diss 

Book 

EfeESENTED HY 



MASTER-KEY 

TO POPERY: 

GIVING A FULL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE CUSTOMS OF THE 

PRIESTS AND FRIARS, 

AND THE 

RITES AND CEREMONIES, 

OF THE 




v<;ton, d, c. 



BY ANTHONY GAjflN, 

ONlflOF THE R0MAi\-CATH6LIC" PltlESrVoF SARAGOSSA. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED 

An Account of the Inquisition at Goa, by Dr. Buchanan; the Inquisition 
at Macerata, by M. Bower; a Preservative against Popery, by Rev. Joseph 
Blanco White, formerly chaplain to the king of Spain ; a Summary of the 
Roman-Catholic Faith ; Damnation and Excommunication of Elizabeth, 
queen of England, and her adherents; and Francis Freeman for embracing 
the Protestant Religion ; also the Pope's Alum-Maker; and other interesting 
details carefully collected from Romish writers. 



BY THE PUBLISHER 
TO THE SECOND AMERICAN EDITION. 



CINCINNATI: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHEP 
BY A. F. ROBINSON. 
1833. 



Copyright secured according to the Act of Congress. 



Stereotyped by J. A. JAM^S, No. 1, Baker Street, Cincinnati. 



mn 

Jqdg? nnrt Mrs. I. ft. Hiit 
June "• 3 1 ' ?f 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. Page. 

OMAN-CATHOLIC Auricular Confession, .... 13 
/onfession of a Young Woman in Saragossa, ----- 21 
Private Confession of a Priest at the point of death, - - - 35 

rivate Confessions, - - - --43 

PART II. 

Pope's Bull, from Spanish, - -- -- -- -- --77 

Form of Absolution under the Bull, - -- -- --82 

Brief, or Sum of the Estations and Indulgences of Rome, 83 
Bull of Crusade, 85 

PART III. 

A Practical Account of their Masses. 

Privileged Altars, Transubstantiation, and Purgatory. 

ARTICLE I. 

Of their Masses, 117 

ARTICLE II. 

Of the Privileged Altar, 134 

ARTICLE III. 

Transubstantiation, or the Eucharist, 135 

ARTICLE IV. 

Purgatory, - - - - 153 

PART IV. 

Of the Inquisitors and their Practices, 163 

Order of the Inquisition to arrest a Horse, 190 

Prayers. Adoration of Images and Relics. 

ARTICLE I. 

Prayers, 196 

3 



CONTENTS. 



ARTICLE II. 

Adoration of Images, 204 

Inquisition of Goa, - -- -- - 217 

Inquisition at Maceratta in Italy, ------ 231 

Summary of the Roman-Catholic Faith, - - - - 248 

Purgatory, - -- -- -- - 259 

Worship of the Virgin Mary, Saints, Reliques, Im- 
ages, &c. &c. - -- -- -- -- -- 260 

Indulgences, -------------- 262 

From the Pope's Tax Book, 263 

Letters from Rome by a Physician, to his Brother in 

America, 272 

Power of the Priests to forgive si'ds, 269 

Preservative against Popery, by the Rev. James Blan- 
co White, - - - 291 

Dialogue II. 311 

Dialogue III. 325, 

Dialogue IV. - - - - - - 344 

Defects occurring in the Mass. 

No. I. - - 863 

No. II. „ 

No. in. „ 

Oaths to be taken to defend the Papacy, - - - - 374 

No. IV. . - - „ 

No. V. „ 

Bishops' Oaths, 375 

No. VI. „ 

Extirpation of Heretics, 376 

NOTES. 

Notices of the Papal Church in the United States, - - - 379 
Damnation and Excommunication of Elizabeth, Queen of 

England, and her Adherents, ------ 404 

Excommunication pronounced by Philip Dunn against 

Francis Freeman, for embracing the Protestant 

Faith, ------- 406 

Dreadful Form of Excommunication denounced against 

the Pope's Alum Maker, 407 



PREFACE. 



When I first designed to publish the following sheets, it was a matter of 
some doubt with me, whether or no I should put my name to them ; for if I did, 
I considered that I exposed myself to the malice of a great body of men, who 
would endeavor on all occasions to injure me in my reputation and fortune, if 
not in my life ; which last (to say no more) was no unnatural suspicion of a 
Spaniard, and one in my case, to entertain of some fiery zealots of the Church 
of Rome. 

But on the other hand, I foresaw, that if I concealed my name, a great 
part of the benefit intended to the public by this work, might be lost. For I 
have often observed, as to books of this kind, where facts only are related, 
(the truth of which in the greatest measure must depend on the credit of the 
relater,) that wherever the authors, out of caution or fear, have concealed 
themselves, the event commonly has been, that even the friends to the cause, 
which the facts support, give but a cold assent to them, and the enemies 
reject them entirely as calumnies and forgeries, without ever giving themselves 
the trouble of examining into the truth of that which the relater dares not 
openly avow. On this account, whatever the consequences may be, I resolved 
to put my name to this ; and accordingly did so to the first proposals which 
were made for printing it. 

But, by this means, I am at the same time obliged to say something in vin- 
dication of myself from several aspersions which I lie under, and which 
indeed I have already in a great degree been a sufferer by, in the opinion of 
many worthy gentlemen. The first is, that I never was a priest, because I 
have not my letters of orders to produce. This, it must be confessed, is a 
testimonial, without which no one has a right, or can expect to be regarded as 
a person of that character ; unless he has very convincing arguments to offer 
the world, that, in his circumstances, no such thing could reasonably be ex- 
pected from him ; and whether or no mine are such, I leave the world to judge. 
My case was this : 

As soon as it had pleased God by his grace to overcome in me the prejudices 
of my education in favor of that corrupt church, in which I had been raised, 
and to inspire me with a resolution to embrace the protestant religion, I saw, 
that in order to preserve my life, I must immediately quit Spain, where all 
a 2 5 



6 



PREFACE. 



persons, who do not publicly profess the Romish religion, are condemned to 
death. Upon this I resolved to lose no time in making my escape, but how to 
make it was a matter of the greatest difficulty and danger. However, I de- 
termined rather to hazard all events, than either to continue in that church, 
or expose myself to certain death ; and accordingly made choice of dis- 
guises as the most probable method of favoring my escape. The first I made 
use of, was the habit of an officer in the army : and as I was sure there would 
be strict inquiry and search made after me, I durst not bring along with me my 
letters of orders, which, upon my being suspected in any place, for the person 
searched after, or any other unhappy accident, would have been an undeniable 
evidence against me, and consequently would have condemned me to the 
inquisition. By this means I got safely to London, where I was most civilly re- 
ceived by the late Earl Stanhope, to whom I had the honor to be known when 
he was in Saragossa. He told me that there were some other new converts of my 
nation in town, and that he hoped I would follow the command of Jesus to 
Peter, viz. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren. 

Upon this I went to the late Lord Bishop of London, and by his lordship's 
order, his domestic chaplain examined me three days together ; and as I could 
not produce the letters of orders, he advised me to get a certificate from my 
Lord Stanhope, that he knew me, and that I was a priest, which I obtained 
the very same day; and upon this certificate, his lordship received my recan- 
tation, after morning prayers in his chapel of Somerset-house, and licensed 
me to preach and officiate in a Spanish congregation composed of my Lord 
Stanhope, several English officers, and a few Spanish officers, new converts. 
By virtue of this license, I preached two years and eight months, first in the 
chapel of Queen's Square, Westminster, and afterwards in Gxenden's chapel, 
near the hay-market. But my benefactor, desirous to settle me in the English 
church, advised me to go chaplain to the Preston man of war, where I might 
have a great deal of leisure to learn the langnage ; and being presented and 
approved by the Bishop of London, the Lords of the Admiralty granted me 
the warrant or commission of chaplain. Then his lordship, though he had 
given his consent in writing, to preach in Spanish, enlarged it in the warrant 
of the Admiralty, which license I shall take leave to insert here at large. 

Whereas the Reverend Mr. Anthony Garvin was recommended to me by 
the right honorable Lord Stanhope, and by the same and other English gentle- 
men, I was certified that the said Reverend Mr. Garvin was a secular priest, 
and master of arts in the university of the city of Saragossa, in the kingdom of 
Arragon, in Spain, and that they knew him in the said city, and conversed with 
him several times : This is to certify that the said Reverend Mr. Garvin, after 
having publicly and solemnly abjured the errors of the Romish religion, and 
being thereupon by me reconciled to the church of England, on the Sd day of 
January, 1715-16, he then had my leave to officiate, in the Spanish language, 



PREFACE. 



7 



in the chapel of Queen's Square, Westminster ; and now being appointed 
chaplain of his Majesty's ship, the Preston, has my license to preach in Eng- 
lish, and to administer the sacraments, at home and abroad, in all the churches 
and chapels of my diocess. 

Given under my hand, in London, the 13th of July, 1720. 

Signed, JOHN LONDON. 

The certificate, license, and warrant, may be seen at any time, for 1 have 
them by me. 

After that, the ship being put out of commission, and my Lord Stanhope 
being m Hanover with the king, I came over to Ireland on the importunity of 
a friend, with a desire to stay here until my lord's return into England : But 
when I was thinking of going over again, I heard .of my lord's death, and 
having in him lost my best patron, I resolved to try in this kingdom, whether 
I could find any settlement ; and in a few days after, by the favor of his 
grace my Lord Archbishop of Cashel, and the Reverend Dean Percival, I got 
the curacy of Gowran, which I served almost eleven months, by the license of 
my Lord Bishop of Oscory, who afterwards, upon my going to Cork, gave me 
his letters dismissory. 

I was in Cork very near a year, serving the cure of a parish near it, and 
the Rev. Dean Maule being at that time in London, and I being recommend- 
ed to him to preach in his parish church of Shandon, he went to inquire about 
me to the Bishop of London, who, and several other persons of distinction, 
were pleased to give me a good character, as the Dean on my leaving him did 
me the favor to certify under his hand, together with my good behaviour during 
my stay in Cork. 

Now my case being such as I have represented it, I freely submit it to the" 
judgment of every gentleman of ingenuity and candor to determine, whether 
it could be expected from me, that I should have my letters of orders to show : 
and yet whether there can be any tolerable reason to suspect my not having 
been a priest. I think it might be enough to silence all suspicions on this 
account, that I was received as a priest into the church of England, and 
licensed as such to preach and administer the sacramento both in that kingdom 
and this; and I hope no one can imagine, that any of the bishops of the best 
constituted and governed churches upon earth, would admit any person to so 
sacred a trust, without their being fully satisfied that he was in orders. 

I shall, on this occasion, beg leave to mention what the Bishop of London 
said to me, when I told him I had not my letters of orders, but that my Lord 
Stanhope, and other gentlemen of honor and credit, who knew me in my 
native city of Saragossa, would certify, that I there was esteemed, and officia- 
ted as a priest. Bring such a certificate, said he, and I will receive and license 
you ; for I would rather depend upon it, than any letters of orders you could 
produce, which, for ought I could tell, you might have forged. 



8 



PREFACE. 



I hope what I have here said may convince even my enemies, of my being a 
clergyman : And how I have behaved myself as such, since I came into this 
kingdom, I appeal to those gentlemen I conversed with in Gowran, Gortroe, 
and Cork, and for this last year and a half, to the officers of Col. Barrel, Briga- 
dier Napper, Col. Hawley, Col. Newton, and Col. Lance's regiments, who I 
am sure will do me justice, and I desire no more of them ; and upon an inquiry 
into my behaviour, I flatter myself that the public will not lightly give credit 
to the ill reports spread abroad by my enemies. 

Another objection raised against me is, that I have perjured myself in dis- 
covering the private confessions which were made to me. In one point indeed 
they may call me perjured, and it is my comfort and glory that I am so in it, 
viz : That I have broke the oath I took, when I was ordained priest, which 
was, to live and die in the Roman Catholic faith. But as to the other perjury 
charged upon me, they lie under a mistake ; for there is no oath of secrecy at 
all administered to confessors, as most protestants imagine. Secrecy indeed 
is recommended to all confessors by the casuists, and enjoined by the councils 
and popes so strictly, that if a confessor reveals (except in some particular 
cases) what is confessed to him, so as the penitent is discovered, he is to be 
punished for it in the inquisition; which, it must be owned, is a more effectual 
way of enjoining secrecy than oaths themselves 

However, I am far from imagining, that because m this case I have broken 
no oath, I should therefore be guilty of no crime, though I revealed every 
thing which was committed to my trust as a confessor, of whatever ill conse- 
auence it might be to the penitent; no, such a practice I take to be exceed- 
ingly criminal, and I do, from my soul, abhor it. 

But nevertheless there are cases where, by the constitution of the church of 
Rome itself, the most dangerous secrets may and ought to be revealed : Such 
as those which are called " reserved cases," of which there are many; some 
reserved to the pope himself, as heresy; some to his apostolic commissary or 
deputy, as incest in the first degree; some to the bishop of the diocess, as the 
setting a neighbors house on fire. Now in such cases the confessor cannot 
absolve the penitent, and therefore he is obliged to reveal the confession to 
the person to whom the absolution of that sin is reserved ; though indeed he 
never mentions the penitent's name, or any circumstance by which he may 
be discovered. 

Again, there are other cases (such as a conspiracy against the life of the 
Prince, or a traitorous design to overturn the government) which the 
confessor is obliged in conscience, and for the safety of the public, to reveal. 

But besides all these, whenever the penitent's case happens to have any 
thing of an uncommon difficulty in it, common prudence, and a due regard 
to the faithful discharge of his office, will oblige a confessor to discover it to 
men of experience and judgment in casusitry, that he may have their advice 



PREFACE. 



9 



how to proceed in it : And that is what confessors in Spain not only may do, 
but are bound by the word of a priest to do wherever they have an opportu- 
nity of consulting a college of confessors, or, as it is commonly called, a 
moral academy. 

I believe it may be of some service on the present occasion, to inform my 
readers what those moral academies are, which are to be met with through 
Spain, in every city and town where there is a number of secular and regular 
priests : But I shall speak only of those in the city of Saragossa, as being the 
most perfectly acquainted with them. 

A moral academy is a college or assembly consisting of several Father Con- 
fessors, in which each of them proposes some moral case which has happened 
to him in confession, with an exact and particular account of the confession, 
without mentioning the penitent's name : And the proponent having done this, 
eveiy member is to deliver his opinion upon it. This is constantly practised 
every Friday, from two of the clock in the afternoon, till six, and sometimes 
till eight, as the cases proposed happen to be more or less difficult. But when 
there is an extraordinary intricate case to be resolved, and the members can- 
not agree in the resolution of it, they send one of their assembly to the great 
academy, which is a college composed of sixteen casuistical doctors, and 
four professors of divinity, the most learned and experienced in moral cases 
that may be had : and by them the case in debate is resolved, and the resolu- 
tion of it entered in the books of the academy by the consent of the president 
and members. 

The academy of the holy trinity, founded and very nobly endowed by 
Archbishop Gamboa. is one of the most famous in the city of Saragossa; and 
of it I was member for three years. I was very young and inexpert in cases 
of conscience, when I was first licensed to be a confessor ; for the pope having 
dispensed with thirteen months of the time required by the canons for the age 
of a priest (for which I paid sixty pistoles) I was ordained before I was twenty 
three years old, by Don Antonio Ibannez de la Rivia de Herrera, Archbishop 
of Saragossa, and Viceroy of Arragon, and at the same time licensed by him 
to hear confessions of both sexes. In order then the better and more speedily 
to qualify myself for the office, I thought it my most prudent way to apply 
as soon as possible, to be admitted into this learned society, and as it happen- 
ed, I had interest enough to succeed. 

Now among many statutes left by the founder to this academy, one is 
this, viz : That every person who is chosen a member of it, is, on his admis- 
sion, to promise upon the word of a priest, to give the whole assembly a 
faithful account of all the private confessions he has heard the week before, 
which have any thing in them difficult to be resolved : yet so as not to men- 
tion any circumstance by which the penitents may be known. 

And for this end there ia a book, where the secretary enters all the cases 



10 



PREFACE. 



proposed and resolved every Friday; and every third year there is, by the 
consent of the president and members of the academy, and by the approba- 
tion of the great one, a book printed containing all the cases resolved for 
three years before, and which is entitled, " compendium casuum moralium 
academiae S. S. trinitatis." The academy of the holy trinity is always com- 
posed of twenty members, so that every one may easily perceive, that each 
of the members may be acquainted hi a year or two, with many hundreds of 
private confessions of all ranks and conditions of people ; besides those which 
were made to themselves : Which remark I only make, by the by, to satisfy 
some men, who, I am told, find fault with me for pretending to impose on the 
public for genuine, several confessions which were not made to myself, and 
consequently for the reality of which, I can have no sufficient authority. 

Now after all that has been said on this head, I believe I need not be at 
much trouble to vindicate myself from the imputation of any criminal breach 
of secrecy ; for if the reader observe, that on the foregoing grounds, there is 
no confession whatever which may not lawfully be revealed, (provided the 
confessor do not discover the penitent,) he cannot in justice condemn me for 
publishing a few, by which it is morally impossible, in the present circum- 
stances, that the penitents should be known. -Had I been much more partic- 
ular than I am in my relations, and mentioned even the names and every 
thing else I knew of the persons, there would scarce be a possibility (consid- 
ering the distance and little intercourse there is between this place and Sara- 
gossa) of their suffering in any degree by it : And I need not observe that 
the chief, and indeed only reason of enjoining and keeping secrecy, is the 
hazards the penitent may run by discovery, but I do assure the reader, that in 
every confession I have related, I have made use of feigned names, and 
avoided every circumstance by which I had the least cause to suspect the 
parties might be found out. And I assure him further, that most of the cases 
here published by me, are, in their most material points, already printed in the 
compendium* of that moral academy of which I was a member. 

As for the reasons which moved me to publish this book, I shall only say, 
that as the corrupt practices, which are the subject of it, first set me upon ex- 
amining into the principles of the church of Rome, and by that means of 
renouncing them ; so I thought that the making of them public might happily 
produce the same effect in some others. 

I did design on this occasion to give a particular account of the motives of 
my conversion, and leaving Spain; but being confined to three hundred pages, 
I must leave that and some other things relating to the sacraments of the 
church of Rome, to the second part, which I intend to print if the public 
think fit to encourage me. 



PREFACE. 



11 



I must beg the reader's pardon for my presumption in writing to him in his 
own language, on so short an acquaintance as I have with it. I hope he 
will excuse the many mistakes I have committed in the book : I shall be very 
well pleased to be told of, and I shall take the greater care to avoid them in 
the second part. 



PREFACE TO THIS EDITION. 

The preceding preface, which was written by the original author of this 
valuable work, is published in his own words, in order that the reader may 
understand his motives and views in disclosing the important facts which had 
come to his knowledge in relation to Popery. Having abjured the errors of 
the Romish religion, he felt constrained to warn others of the insidious arts to 
which he had been himself the victim, and to point out the absurd contrivan- 
ces by which the priesthood of that denomination impose upon the credulity 
of the ignorant and unsuspecting. In doing this he has given to the world a 
mass of facts which cannot be disbelieved, nor controverted, and which must 
satisfy eveiy intelligent mind of the gross fallacy of the doctrines of that 
ancient church, and the dreadful corruptions practised by those who adminis- 
ter its concerns. 

As a christian people, it becomes us to examine carefully the grounds of 
our belief, and to decide with due caution for ourselves, whether the doctrines 
and standards of faith proposed for our acceptance by any set of men, con- 
form with those handed down to us by the fathers. By placing this book in 
the hands of the American reader, he will be enabled to compare it with 
the only safe rule of faith and practice, the blessed Gospel of Christ, which 
is all truth, purity, and wisdom, and cannot mislead. 

The American reader will also decide, whether the forms of the Roman 
catholic religion are suited to the circumstances of a republican people. If 
even the doctrines of that faith, were safe and pure, we cannot believe that 
the complicated machinery, the expensive and unmeaning parade, and the 
despotic principles of its church government, could ever be received into 
practice by the good sense of intelligent and free people. 

To make this compilation more complete, we have added to the original 
work of Mr. Gavin, an account of " The Inquisition of Goa," by the cele- 
brated Dr. Buchanan, who travelled and resided in Asia ; an account of " The 
Inquisition at Maceratain Italy," by Mr. Bower; and a Summary of the 
Roman catholic faith, carefully prepared from their own works, and which 
will place the whole subject clearly within the comprehension of the plainest 
understanding. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



PART I. 



OF THE ROMAN-CATHOLICS 1 AURICULAR CONFESSION. 

Auricular confession being one of the five commandments 
of the Roman-Catholic Church, and a condition necessarily 
required in one of their sacraments ; and being too an article 
that will contribute very much to the discovery of many other 
errors of that communion, it may be proper to make use of 
the Master-Key, and begin with it : And first of all, with the 
Father confessors, who are the only key-keepers of it. 

Though a priest cannot be licensed, by the canons of their 
church, to hear men's confessions, till he is thirty years, nor 
to confess women till forty years of age, yet ordinarily he 
gets a dispensation from the bishop, to whom his probity, se- 
crecy, and sober conversation are represented by one of the 
diocesan *examinators, his friend, or by some person of inter- 
est with his lordship; and by that means he gets a confessor's 
license, most commonly, the day he gets his letters of orders, 
viz. : Some at three-and-twenty, and some at four-and-twenty 
years of age, not only for men, but for women's confessions 
also. 1 say, some at three-and-twenty; for the Pope dispenses 
with thirteen months, to those that pay a sum of money; of 
which I shall speak in another place. 

To priests thus licensed, to be judges of the tribunal of con- 
science, men and women discover their sins, their actions, their 
thoughts, nay, their very dreams, if they happen to be impure. 
I say, judges of the tribunal of conscience ; for when they are 



* Those that are appointed by the bishop, to examine those that are to be 
ordained, or licensed to preach and hear confessions. 

B 13 



14 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



licensed, they ought to resolve any case (let it be ever so hard) 
proposed by the penitent : And by this means it must often 
happen, that a young man who, perhaps, does not know more 
than a few definitions (which he has learned in a little manual 
of some casuistical authors) of what is sin, shall sit in such a 
tribunal, to judge, in the most intricate cases, the consciences 
of men, and men too that may be his masters. 

I saw a reverend father* who had been eight-and-twenty 
years professor of divinity in one of the most considerable! 
universities of Spain, and one of the most famous men for his 
learning, in that religion, kneel down before a young! priest 
of twenty-four years of age, and confess his sins to him. Who 
would not be surprised at them both ? A man fit to be the 
judge, to act the part of a criminal before an ignorant judge, 
who, I am sure, could scarcely then tell the titles of the Sum- 
mas Morales. 

Nay, the Pope, notwithstanding all his infallibility, doth 
kneel down before his confessor, tell him his sins, heareth his 
correction, and receives and performs whatever penance he 
imposeth upon him. This is the only difference between the 
Pope's confessor, and the confessor of Kings and other per- 
sons, that all confessors sit down to hear Kings and other per- 
sons, but the Pope's confessor kneels down himself to hear the 
Holy Father. What, the holy one upon earth humble himself 
as a sinner? Holiness and sin in one and the same subject, 
is 1 a plain contradiction in terms. 

If we ask the Roman-Catholics, Why so learned men, and 
the Pope, do so ? They will answer, that they do it out of rev- 
erence to such a sacrament, out of humility, and to give a token 
and testimony of their hearty sorrow for their sins. And as for 
the Pope, they say he does it to show an example of humility, 
as Jesus Christ did, when he washed the Apostles' feet. 

This answer is true, but they do not say the whole truth in 
it; for, besides the aforesaid reasons, they have another, as 
Molina tells them,§ viz. : That the penitent ought to submit 
entirely to his confessor's correction, advice, and penance ; and 
he excepts no body from the necessary requisite of a true pen- 
itent. Who would not be surprised (I say again) that a man 
of noted learning would submit himself to a young, unexpe- 

* Fr. James Garcia. 

+ The university of Saragossa, in the kingdom of Arragon, in Spain, which, 
according to their historians, was built by Sertorius. 

^ The thing happened to me when I was 24 years of age. 

i In his Moral Sumin. Chap, xviii. of the requisites of a true penitent. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



15 



rienced priest, as to a judge of his conscience, take his advice, 
and receive his correction and penance ? 

What would a Roman-Catholic say, if he should see one of 
our learned bishops go to the college to consult a young colle- 
gian in a nice point of divinity; nay, to take his advice, and 
submit to his opinion ? Really, the Roman would heartily 
laugh at him, and with a great deal of reason ; nay, he could 
say, that his lordship was not right in his senses. What then 
can a protestant say of those infatuated, learned men of the 
church of Rome, when they do more than what is here sup- 
posed? 

As to the Pope (I say) it is a damnable opinion to compare 
him, in this case, to our Saviour Jesus ; for Christ knew not 
sin, but gave us an example of humility and patience, obedience 
and poverty. He washed the apostles' feet; and though we 
cannot know by the Scripture whether he 'did kneel down or 
not to wash them : Suppose that he did, he did it only out of a 
true humility, and not to confess his sins. But the Pope doth 
kneel down, not to give an example of humility and patience, 
but really to confess his sins : Not to give an example of obe- 
dience; for, being supreme pontifex, he obeys nobody, and 
assumes a command over the whole world : nor of poverty ; for 
Pope and necessity dwell far from one another. And if some 
ignorant Roman-Catholic should say, that the Pope, as Pope, 
has no sin, we may prove the contrary with Cipriano de Va- 
leria,* who gives an account of all the bastards of several 
Popes for many years past. The Pope's bastards, in Latin, 
are called nepotes. Now mind, O reader, this common saying 
in Latin, among the Roman-Catholics: Solent clerici filios 
suos vocare sobrinos aut nepotes: That is, The priests use to 
call their own sons cousins or nephews. And when we give 
these instances to some of their learned men, (as I did to one 
in London,) they say, Angelorum est peccare, hominumque 
fenitere: i. e. It belongs to angels to sin, and to men to repent. 
By this they acknowledge that the Pope is a sinner, and nev- 
ertheless they call him His holiness, and the most Holy 
father. 

Who then would not be surprised to see the most holy Jesus 
Christ's vicar on earth, and the infallible in whatever he says, 
and doth submit himself to confess his sins to a man, and a man 
too that has no other power to correct him, to advise and impose 
a penance upon the most holy one, than what his holiness has 



* The lives of the Popes, and the sacrifice of Mass. 



16 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



been pleased to grant him? Every body indeed that has a 
grain of sense of religion, and reflects seriously on it. 

I come now to their Auricular Confession, and of the ways 
and methods they practise and observe in the confessing of their 
sins. There is among them two ranks of people, learned and 
unlearned. The learned confess by these three general heads, 
thought, word, and deed, reducing into them all sorts of sins. 
The unlearned confess the ten commandments, discovering by 
them all the mortal sins which they have committed since their 
last confession. I say mortal sins ; for as to the venial sins or 
sins of a small matter, the opinion of their casuistical authors* 
is, they are washed away by the sign of the cross, or by sprink- 
ling the face with the holy water. To the discovery of the mor- 
tal sins, the father confessor doth very much help the penitent; 
for he sometimes, out of pure zeal, but most commonly out of 
curiosity, asks them many questions to know whether they do 
remember all their sins or not? By these and the like ques- 
tions, the confessors do more mischief than good, especially to 
the ignorant people and young women ; for perhaps they do not 
know what simple fornication is ? What voluntary or involun- 
tary pollution ? What impure desire ? What simple motion of 
our hearts? What relapse, reincidence, or reiteration of sins? 
and the like ; and then by the confessor's indiscreet questions, 
the penitents learn things of which they never had dreamed 
before ; and when they come to that tribunal with a sincere, 
ignorant heart, to receive advice and instruction, they go home 
with light, knowledge, and an idea of sins unknown to them 
before. 

I said, that the confessors do ask questions, most commonly 
out of curiosity, though they are warned by their casuistical 
authors to be prudent, discreet, and very cautious in the ques- 
tions they ask, especially if the penitent be a young woman, 
or an ignorant; for as Pineda says,| It is better to let them go 
ignorant than instructed in new sins. But contrary to this 
good maxim, they are so indiscreet in this point, that I saw in 
the city of Lisbon, in Portugal, a girl of ten years of age, com- 
ing from church, ask her mother what deflouring was ? For the 
father confessor had asked her whether she was defloured or 

* Parez, Irribarren, and Salasar, in his compend. Moral. Sect. 12. de 
vitiis etpeccatis, gives a catalogue of the venial sins, and says, among others, 
that to eat flesh on a day prohibited by the church, without minding it, was so. 
To kill a man, throwing a stone through the window, or being drunk, or in the 
first motion of his passion, are venial sins, &c. 

t Tract, de Penit. Sect, h sect. vii. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



17 



not? And the mother, more discreet than the confessor, tola 
the girl, that the meaning was, whether she took delight in 
smelling flowers or not? And so she stopped her child's curi- 
osity. But of this and many other indiscretions I shall speak 
more particularly by and by. 

Now observe, that as a penitent cannot hide any thing from 
the spiritual judge, else he would make a sacrilegious confes- 
sion ; so I cannot hide any thing from the public, which is to be 
my hearer, and the temporal judge of my work, else I should 
betray my conscience : Therefore, (to the best Of my memory, 
and as one that expects to be called before the dreadful tribu- 
nal of God, on account of what I now write and say, if I do 
not say and write the truth from the bottom of my heart,) I 
shall give a faithful, plain account of the Roman's auricular 
confession, and of the most usual questions and answers be- 
tween the confessors and penitents ; and this I shall do in so 
plain a style that every body may go along with me. 

And first, it is very proper to give an account of what the 
penitents do, from the time they come into the church till they 
begin their confession. When the penitent comes into the 
church, he takes holy water and sprinkles his face, and, ma- 
king the sign of the cross, says, per signum cruris de inimicis 
nostris libera nos Deus noster: In nomine Patris et Filii, et 
Spiritus Sancti. Amen. i. e. By the sign of the cross deliver 
us our God from our enemies, in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then the penitent 
goes on, and kneels down before the great altar, where the 
great host (of which I shall speak in another place) is kept in a 
neat and rich tabernacle, with a brass or silver lamp, hanging 
before it, and burning continually, night and day. There he 
makes a prayer, first to the holy sacrament of the altar, (as 
they call it) after to the Virgin Mary, and to the titular saints 
of the church. Then turns about upon his knees, and visits 
five altars, or if there is but one altar in the church, five times 
that altar, and says before each of them five times, Pater nos- 
ter, &c. and five times Ave Maria, &c. with Gloria Patria, &c. 

Then he rises, and goes to the confessionary : i. e. The con- 
fessing place, where the confessor sits in a chair like our hack- 
ney chairs, which is most commonly placed in some of the 
chapels, and in the darkest place of the church. The chairs, 
generally speaking, have an iron grate at each side, but none 
at all before : and some days of devotion, or on a great festival, 
there is such a crowd of people that you may see three peni- 
tents at once about the chair, one at each grate, and the other 



18 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



at the door, though only one confesses at a time, whispering 
in the confessor's ear, that the others should not hear what he 
says ; and when one has done, the other begins, and so on : But 
most commonly they confess at the door of the chair, one after 
another; for thus the confessor has an opportunity of knowing 
the penitent : And though many gentlewomen, either out of 
bashfulness, shame, or modesty, do endeavor to hide their fa- 
ces with a fan, or veil, notwithstanding all this they are known 
by the confessor, who, if curious, by crafty questions brings 
them to tell him their names and houses, and this in the very 
act of confession, or else he examines their faces when the 
confession is over whilst the penitents are kissing his hand or 
sleeve ; and if he cannot know them this way, he goes himself 
to give the sacrament, and then every one being obliged to 
show her face, is known by the curious confessor, who doth 
this not without a private view and design, as will appear at 
the end of some private confessions. 

The penitent then kneeling, bows herself to the ground be- 
fore the confessor, and makes again the sign of the cross in 
the aforesaid form ; and having in her hand the beads, or rosa- 
ry of the Virgin Mary, begins the general confession of sins, 
which some say in Latin, and some in the vulgar tongue ; there- 
fore it seems proper to give a copy of it both in Latin and 
English : — 

Confiteor Deo Omnipotent ; beatae Mariae semper Virgini, 
beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, Sanctis 
apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi, Pater; quia 
peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, et opere, mea culpa, mea 
culpa, mea maxima culpa : Ideo precor beatam Mariam sem- 
per Virgjnem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joan- 
nem Baptistam, sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes 
sanctos, et te, Pater, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nos- 
trum. Amen. 

I do confess to God Almighty, to the blessed Mary, always a 
Virgin, to the blessed Archangel Michael, to the blessed John 
Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, 
and to thee, O Father, that I have too much sinned by thought, 
word, and deed, by my fault, by my fault, by my greatest fault: 
Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary, always a Virgin, the 
blessed Archangel Michael, the blessed John Baptist, the holy 
apostles Peter and Paul, all the saints, and thee, O Father, to 
pray to God our Lord for me. Amen. 

This done, the penitent raises him from his prostration to his 
knees, and touching with his lip either the ear or the cheek of 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



19 



the Spiritual Father, begins to discover his sins by the ten 
commandments : And here it may be necessary to give a trans- 
lation of their ten commandments, word for word. 

The commandments of the law of God are ten : The three 
first do pertain to the honor of God ; and the other seven to the 
benefit of our neighbor. 

I. Thou shalt love God above all things. 
II. Thou shalt not swear. 

III. Thou shalt sanctify the holy days. 

IV. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother. 
V. Thou shalt not kill. 

VI. Thou shalt not Commit fornication. 

VII. Thou shalt not steal. 
VIII. Thou shalt not bear false witness, nor lie. 

IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. 
X. Thou shalt not covet the things which are another's. 

These ten commandments are comprised in two, viz: To 
serve and love God, and thy neighbor as thyself. Amen. 

Now, not to forget any thing that may instruct the public, it 
is to the purpose to give an account of the little children's con- 
fessions; I mean of those that have not yet attained the seventh 
year of their age ; for at seven they begin most commonly to 
receive the sacrament, and confess in private with all the for- 
malities of their church. 

There is in every city, in every parish, in every town and 
village, a Lent preacher; and there is but one difference among 
them, viz.: that some preachers preach every day in Lent; 
some three sermons a week; some two, viz.: on Wednesdays 
and Sundays, and some only on Sundays, and the holy days 
that happen to fall in Lent. The preacher of the parish pitch- 
es upon one day of the week, most commonly in the middle of 
Lent, to hear the children's confessions, and gives notice to 
the congregation the Sunday before, that every father of a 
family may send his children, both boys and girls, to church, 
on the day appointed, in the afternoon. The mothers dress 
their children the best they can that day, and give them the 
ififfering money for the expiation of their , sins. That afternoon 
Wb a holy day in the parish, not by precept, but by custom, for 
no parishioner, either old or young, man or woman, misseth to 
go and hear the children's confessions. For it is reckoned, 
among them, a greater diversion than a comedy, as you may 
judge by the following account. 

The day appointed, the children repair to church at three of 
the clock, where the preacher is waiting for them with a long 



20 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



reed in his hand, and when all are together, (sometimes 150 in 
number, and sometimes less,) the reverend Father placeth 
them in a circle round himself, and then kneeling down, (the 
children also doing the same,) makes the sign of the cross, and 
says a short prayer. This done, he exhorteth the children to 
hide no sin from him, but to tell him all they have committed. 
Then he strikes, with his reed, the child whom he designs to 
confess the first, and asks him the following questions : 

Confessor. How long is it since you last confessed? 

Boy. Father, a whole year, or the last Lent. 

Conf. And how many sins have you committed from that 
time till now ? 

Boy. Two dozen. 

Now the confessor asks round about. 

Conf. And you? 

Boy. A thousand and ten. 

Another will say a bag full of small lies, and ten big sins ; 
and so one after another answers, and tells many childish 
things. 

Conf. But pray, you say that you have committed ten big 
sins, tell me how big? 
Boy. As big as a tree. 
Conf But tell me the sins. 

Boy. There is one sin I committed, which I dare not tell 
your reverence before all the people j for somebody here pre- 
sent will kill me, if he heareth me. 

Conf. Well, come out of the circle, and tell it me. 

They both go out, and with a loud voice, he tells him, that 
such a day he stole a nest of sparrows from a tree of another 
boy's, and that if he knew it, he would kill him. Then both 
come again into the circle, and the father asks other boys and 
girls so many ridiculous questions, and the children answer 
him so many pleasant, innocent things, that the congregation 
laughs all the while. One will say, that his sins are red, ano- 
ther that one of his sins is white, one black, and one green, and 
in these trifling questions they spend two hours' time. When 
the congregation is weary of laughing, the Confessor giveA 
the children a correction, and bids them not to sin any more, 
for a black boy takes along with him the wicked children : 
Then he asks the offering, and after he has got all from them, 
gives them the penance for their sins. To one he says, I give 
you for penance, to eat a sweet cake ; to another, not to go to 
school the day following; to another, to desire his mother to' 
buy him a new hat, and such things as these ; and pronouncing 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



21 



the words of absolution, he dismisseth the congregation with 
Amen, so be it, every year. 

These are the first foundations of the Romish religion for 
youth. Now, O reader ! You may make reflections upon it, and 
the more you will reflect, so much more you will hate the cor- 
ruptions of that communion, and it shall evidently appear to 
you, that the serious, religious instruction of our church, as to 
the youth, is reasonable, solid, and without reproach. O ! that 
all Protestants would remember the rules they learned from 
their youth, and practise them while they live ! Sure I am, 
they should be like angels on earth, and blessed forever after 
death, in heaven. 

From seven till fifteen, there is no extraordinary thing to say 
of young people, only that from seven years of age, they begin 
to confess in private. The confessors have very little trouble 
with such young people, and likewise little profit, except with 
a Puella, who sometimes begins at twelve years the course of 
a lewd life, and then the Confessor finds business and profit 
enough, when she comes to confess. Now I come to give an 
account of several private confessions of both sexes, beginning 
from people of fifteen years of age. The confession is a dia- 
logue between the Spiritual Father and the penitent; there- 
fore I shall deliver the confessions in a way of dialogue. The 
letter C. signifies Confessor, and several other letters the 
names of the penitents. 

The confession of a young woman in Saragossa, whom I shall call Mary. 
And this I set down chiefly to show the common form of their confessing 
penitents. The thing was not public ; and therefore I give it under a sup- 
posed name. 

Confessor. How long is it since you last confessed 1 

Mary. It is two years and two months. 

Conf. Pray, do you know the commandments of our holy 
mother, the church? 

Mary. Yea, Father. 

Conf. Rehearse them. 
friary. The commandments of our holy mother, the church, 
are five. 1. To hear Mass on Sundays and Holy days. 2. 
To confess, at least, once in a year, and oftener, if there be 
danger of death. 3. To receive the eucharist. 4. To fast. 
5. To pay tithes and Primitia.* - 

* Primitia is to pay, besides the tenth, one thirtieth part of the fruits of the 
earth, towards the repair of the church vestments, &c. 



22 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Conf Now rehearse the seven sacraments. 

Mary. The sacraments of the holy mother, the church, are 
seven. 1. Baptism. 2. Confirmation. 3. Penance. 4. The 
Lord's supper. 5. Extreme unction. 6. Holy orders. 7. 
Matrimony. — Amen. 

Conf. You see in the second commandment of the church, 
and in the third, among the sacraments, that you are obliged 
to confess every year. Why then have you neglected so much 
longer a time to fulfil the precept of our holy mother ? 

Mary. As I was young, and a great sinner, I was ashamed, 
reverend Father, to confess my sins to the priest of our parish, 
for fear he should know me by some passages of my life, 
which would be prejudicial to me, and to several other per- 
sons related to my family. 

Conf. But you know that it is the indispensable duty of the 
minister of the parish, to expose in the church, after Easter, 
all those who have not confessed, nor received the sacrament 
before that time. 

Mary. I do know it very well j but I went out of the city 
towards the middle of Lent, and I did not come back again till 
after Easter ; and when I was asked in the country, whether I 
had confessed that Lent or not? I said, that I had done it in the 
city : and when the minister of the parish asked me the same 
question, I told him, I had done it in the country. So, with 
this lie, I freed myself from the public censure of the church. 

Conf And did you perform the last penance imposed upon 
you? 

Mary. Yea, Father, but not with that exactness I was com- 
manded. 

Conf. What was the penance ? 

Mary. To fast three days upon bread and water, and to give 
ten reals of plate,* and to say five masses for the souls in pur- 
gatory. I did perform the first, but not the second, because I 
could not get money for it unknown to my parents at that time. 

Conf. Do you promise me to perform it as soon as you can ? 

Mary. I have the money here, which I will leave with you, 
and you may say, or order another priest to say the Masses. 

Conf. Very well : but tell me now, what reason have you 
to come and confess out of the time appointed by the church? 
Is it for devotion, to quiet your conscience, and merely to make 
your peace with God Almighty, or some worldly end ? 

Mary. Good Father, pity my condition, and pray put me in 

* A real of plate is about seven pence of our money in Ireland. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY ► 



23 



the right way of salvation, for I am ready to despair of God's 
mercy, if you do not quiet and ease my troubled conscience. 
Now I will answer to your question : the reason is, because a 
gentleman who, under promise of marriage, has kept me these 
two last years, is dead two months ago ; and I have resolved 
in my heart to retire myself into a monastery, and to end there 
my days, serving God and his holy mother, the Virgin Mary. 

Conf Do not take any resolution precipitately, for, may be, 
if your passion grows cool, you will alter your mind; and I 
suspect, with a great deal of reason, that your repentance is 
not sincere, and that you come to confess out of sorrow for 
the gentleman's death, more than out of sorrow for your sins ; 
and if it be so, I advise you to take more time to consider 
the state of your conscience, and to come to me a fortnight 
hence. 

Mary. My Father, all the world shall not alter my mind, 
and the daily remorse of my conscience brings me to your 
feet, with a full resolution to confess all my sins, in order to 
obtain absolution, and to live a new life hereafter. 

Conf. If it is so, let us, in the name of God, begin the con- 
fession, and I require of you not to forget any circumstance of 
sin, which may contribute to ease your conscience. Above 
all, I desire of you to lay aside shame, while you confess your 
sins ; for, suppose that your sins exceed the number of stars, 
or the number of the sands of the sea, God's mercy is infinite, 
and accepts of the true, penitent heart; for he wills not the 
death of a sinner, but that he should repent and turn to him. 

Mary. I do design to open freely my heart to you, and to 
follow your advice, as to the spiritual course of my life. 

Conf. Begin then by the first commandment. 

Mary. I do confess, in this commandment, that I have not 
loved God above all things ; for all my care, these two years 
past, has been to please Don Francisco, in whatever thing he 
desired me, and, to the best of my memory, I did not think of 
God, nor of his mother, Mary, for many months together. 

Conf. Have you constantly frequented the assemblies of 
the faithful, and heard Mass on Sundays, and holy days ? 

Mary. No, Father ; sometimes I have been four months 
without going to church. 

Conf. You have done a great injury to your soul, and you 
have given a great scandal to your neighbors. 

Mary. As for the first, I own it, for every Sunday and holy 
day I went out in the morning, and in so populous a city, they 
could not know the church I used to resort to. 



24 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Conf. Did it come into your mind all this while, that God 
would punish you for your sins ? 

Mary. Yea, Father : but the Virgin Mary is my advocate. 
I keep her image by my bedside, and used to address my 
prayer to her every night before I went to bed, and I always 
had a great hope in her. 

Conf. If your devotion to the Virgin Mary is so fervent, 
you must believe that your heart is moved to repentance by 
her influence and mediation ; and I charge you to continue the 
same devotion while you live, and fear nothing afterwards. 

Mary. That is my design. 

Conf. Go on. 

Mary. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not swear: 
I never was guilty of swearing, but I have a custom of saying, 
Such a thing is so, as sure as there is a God in heaven: and 
this I repeat very often every day. 

Conf That is a sinful custom, for we cannot swear nor 
affirm any thing by heaven or earth, as the scripture tells us; 
and less by Him who has the throne of his habitation in hea- 
ven : so you must break off that custom, or else you commit a 
sin every time you make use of it. Go on. 

Mary. The third is, Thou shalt sanctify the holy days. I 
have told you already, my spiritual Father, that I have ne- 
glected, sometimes, to go to Mass, four months together; and 
to the best of my memory, in these two years and two months, 
I have missed sixty Sundays and holy days going to Mass, 
and when I did go, my mind was so much taken up with oth- 
er diversions, that I did not mind the requisite devotion, for 
which I am heartily sorry. 

Conf. I hope you will not do so for the future ; and so, go 
on. 

Mary. The fourth is, Thou shalt honor father and mother. 
I have father and mother; as to my father, I do love, honor 
and fear him ; as to my mother, I do confess, that I have an- 
swered and acted contrary to the duty, respect, and reverence 
due to her, for her suspecting and watching my actions and 
falsesteps, and giving me a christian correction : I have abus- 
ed her, nay, sometimes, I have lifted up my hand to threaten 
her; and these proceedings of mine towards my good mother, 
torture now my heart. 

Conf. I am glad to observe your grief, and you may be 
sure, God will forgive you these and other sins upon your 
hearty repentance, if you persevere in it. Go on. 

Mary. The fifth is, Thou shalt not kill. I have not trans- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



25 



gressed this commandment effectively and immediately, but I 
have done it affectively and mediately, and at second hand ; 
for a gentlewoman, who was a great hindrance to my designs, 
once provoked me to such a pitch, that I put in execution all 
the means of revenge I could think of, and gave ten pistoles 
to an assassin, to take away her life. 
Conf. And did he kill her? 

Mary. No, Father, for she kept her house for three months, 
and in that time we were reconciled, and now we are very 
good friends. 

Conf. Have you asked her pardon, and told her your de- 
sign 1 

Mary. I did not tell her in express terms, but I told her 
that I had an ill will to her, and that at that time I could have 
killed her, had I got an opportunity for it : for which I hearti- 
ly begged her pardon : she did forgive me, and so we live 
ever since like two sisters. 

Conf. Go on. 

Mary. The sixth, Thou shalt not commit fornication. In 
the first place, I do confess that I have unlawfully conversed 
with the said Don Francisco, for two years, and this unlawful 
commerce has made me fall into many other sins. 

Conf Did he promise solemnly to marry you . 

Mary. He did, but could not perform it, while his father 
was alive. 

Conf. Tell me, from the beginning, to the day of his 
death, and to the best of your memory, your sinful thoughts, 
words, actions, nay, your very dreams, about this matter. 

Mary. Father, the gentleman was our neighbor, of a good 
family and fortune, and by means of the neighborly friendship 
of our parents, we had the opportunity to talk with one anoth- 
er as much as we pleased. For two years together, we loved 
one another in innocence; but at last he discovered to me one 
day, when our parents were abroad, the great inclination he 
had for me; and that having grown to a passion, and this to 
an inexpressible love, he could no longer hide it from me : 
that his design was to marry me as soon as his father should 
die, and that he was willing to give me all the proofs of sin- 
cerity and unfeigned love I could desire from him. To this I 
answered, that if it was so, I was ready to promise never to 
marry another during his life : To this, he took a sign of the 
crucifix in his hands, and bowing down before an image of the 
Virgin Mary, called the four elements to be witnesses of the 
sincerity of his vows, nay, all the saints of the heavenly court-, 



28 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



to appear against him in the day of judgment, if he was not 
true in heart and words ; and said, that by the crucifix in his 
hands, and by the image of the Virgin Mary, there present, he 
promised and swore never to marry another during my life. — 
I answered him in the same manner; and ever since, we have 
lived with the familiarities of husband and wife. The effect 
of this reciprocal promise was the ruin of my soul, and the 
beginning of my sinful life; for ever since, I minded nothing 
else, but to please him and myself, when I had an opportunity. 
Conf. How often did he visit you? 

Mary. The first year he came to my room every night, 
after both families were gone to bed; for in the vault of his 
house, which joins to ours, we dug one night through the earth, 
and made a passage wide enough for the purpose, which we 
covered on each side with a large earthen water-jar; and by 
that means he came to me every night. But my grief is 
double, when I consider, that, engaging my own maid into 
this intrigue, I have been the occasion of her ruin too; for by 
my ill example, she lived in the same way with the gentle- 
man's servant, and I own that I have been the occasion of all 
her sins too. 

Conf. And the second year did he visit you so often? 

Mary. No, father ; for the breach in the vault was discov- 
ered by his father, and was stopped immediately; but nobody 
suspected any thing of our intimacy, except my mother, who 
from something she had observed, began to question me, and 
afterwards became more suspicious and watchful. 

Conf. Did any effect of these visits come to light? 

Mary. It would, had I not been so barbarous and inhuman 
to prevent it, by a remedy I took, which answered my pur- 
pose. 

Conf. And how could you get the remedy, there being a 
rigorous law against it? 

Mary. The procuring it brought me into a yet wickeder 
life ; for I was acquainted with a friar, a cousin of mine, who 
had always expressed a great esteem forme ; but one day after 
dinner, being alone, he began to make love to me, and was 
going to take greater liberties than he had ever done before. 
I told him that if he could keep a secret, and do me a service, 
I would comply with his desire. He promised me to do it 
upon the word of a priest. Then I told him my business, and 
the day after he brought me the necessary medicine ; and 
ever since I was freed from that uneasiness. I have lived the 
same course of life with my cousin ; nay, as I was under such 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



27 



an obligation to him, I have ever since been obliged to allow 
him many other liberties in my house. 

Conf. Are those other liberties he took in your house sin- 
ful or not? 

Mary. The liberties I mean are, that he desired me to 
gratify his companion too, several times, and to consent that 
my maid should satisfy his lusts ; and not only this, but by 
desiring me to corrupt one of my friends, he has ruined her 
soul; for, being in the same condition I had been in before, I 
was obliged, out of fear, to furnish her with the same remedy, 
which produced the same effect. Besides these wicked ac- 
tions, I have robbed my parents to supply him with whatever 
money he demanded. 

Conf. But as to Don Francisco, pray tell me, how often 
did he visit you since? 

Mary. The second year he could not see me in private 
but very seldom, and in a sacred place ; for having no oppor- 
tunity at home, nor abroad, I used to go to a little chapel out 
of the town ; and having gained the hermit with money, we 
continued our commerce, that way, for six or eight times the 
second year, 

Conf. Your sins are aggravated, both by the circumstance 
of the sacred place, and by your cousin's being a Priest, be- 
sides the two murders committed by you, one in yourself, and 
the other in your friend. Nay, go on, if you have any more 
to say upon this subject. 

Mary. I have nothing else to say, as to the commandment, 
but that I am heartily sorry for all these my misdoings. 

Conf. Go on. 

Mary. The seventh, Thou shalt not steal. I have nothing 
to confess in this commandment but what I have told you al- 
ready, i. e. that I have stolen many things from my father's 
house, to satisfy my cousin's thirst of money ; and that I have 
advised my friend to do the same ; though this was done by 
me, only for fear that he should expose us, if we had not given 
him what he desired. 

Conf And do you design to continue the same life with 
your cousin, for fear of being discovered? 

Mary. No, Father; for he is sent to another convent, to 
be professor of divinity for three years ; and if he comes back 
again, he shall find me in a monastery ; and then I will be 
safe, and free from his wicked attempts. 

Conf How long is it since he went away? 

Mary. Three months, and his companion is dead; so. God 



28 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY 



be thanked, I am without any apprehension or fear now, and 
I hope to see my good design accomplished. 
Conf. Go on. 

Mary. The eighth is, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 
nor lie. The ninth, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife. 
The tenth, Thou shalt not covet any things which are another's. 
I know nothing in these three commandments, that trouble my 
conscience : Therefore, I conclude by confessing, in general 
and particular, all the sins of my whole life, committed by 
thought, word and deed, and I am heartily sorry for them all, 
and ask God's pardon, and your advice, penance and absolu- 
tion. Amen. 

Conf. Have you trangressed the fourth commandment of 
the church? 

Mary. Yea, father; for I did not fast as it prescribes, for 
though I did abstain from flesh, yet I did not keep the form of 
fasting these two years past; but I have done it since the gen- 
tleman's death. 

Conf Have you this year taken the bull of indulgences ? 

Mary Yea, Father. 

Conf Have you visited five altars 5 the days appointed for 
his holiness to take a soul out of purgatory? 
Mary. I did not for several days. 

Conf. Do you promise me, as a minister of God, and as if 
you were now before the tribunal of the dreadful judge, to 
amend your life, and to avoid all the occasions of falling into 
the same or other sins, and to frequent for the future, this 
sacrament, and the others, and to obey the commandments 
of God, as things absolutely necessary to the salvation of your 
soul? 

Mary. That is my design, with the help of God, and of the 
blessed Virgin Mary, in whom I put my whole trust and confi- 
dence. 

Conf. Your contrition must be the foundation of your new 
life, for if you fall into other sins after this signal benefit you 
have received from God, and his blessed mother, of calling 
you to repentance, it will be a hard thing for you to obtain 
pardon and forgiveness. You see God has taken away all the 
obstacles of your true repentance ; pray ask continually his 
grace, that you may make good use of these heavenly favors. 
But you ought to consider, that though you shall be freed by 
my absolution from the eternal pains your manifold sins de- 
serve, you shall not be free from the sufferings of purgatory, 
where your soul must be purified by fire, if you in this pre- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



29 



sent life do not take care to redeem your soul from that terri- 
ble flame, by ordering some masses for the relief of souls in 
purgatory. 

Mary. I design to do it as far as it lies in my power. 

Conf. Now, to show your obedience to God, and our moth- 
er, the church, you must perform the following penance : You 
must fast every second day, to mortify your lusts and passions, 
and this for the space of two months. You must visit five al- 
tars every second day, and one privileged altar, and say in 
each of them five times Pater noster, &c, and five times Ave 
Mary, &c. You must say too every day for two months' time, 
three-and-thirty times the creed, in honor and memory of the 
three-and-thirty years that our Saviour did live upon earth ; 
and you must confess once a week; and by the continuance of 
these spiritual exercises, your soul may be preserved from 
several temptations, and may be happy forever. 

Mary. I will do all that with the help of Goa. 

Conf. Say the act of contrition by which I absolve you. 

Mary. O God, my God, I have sinned against thee ; I am 
heartily sorry, &c. 

Conf. Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee ; and by the au- 
thority given me, I absolve thee, &c. 

A private confession of a woman to a Friar of the Dominican order, laid 
down in writing before the Moral Academy, 1710, and the opinions of the 
members about it. The person was not known, therefore I shall call 
her Leonore. 

Leonore did confess to F. Joseph Riva the following misdo- 
ings: 

Leonore. My reverend Father, I come to this place to 
make a general confession of all the sins I have committed 
in the whole course of my life, or of all those I can re- 
member. 

Conf. How long have you been preparing yourself for this 
general confession? 
Leon. Eight days. 

Conf. Eight days are not enough to recollect yourself, and 
bring into your memory all the sins of your life. 

Leon. Father, have patience till you hear me, and then you 
may judge whether my confession be perfect or imperfect. 

Conf. And how long is it since you confessed the last 
time? 

Leon. The last time I confessed was the Sunday before 
Easter, which is eleven months and twenty days. 

c 2 



30 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Conf. Did you accomplish the penance then imposed upon 
you? 

Leon. Yea, father. 

Conf. Begin then your confession. 

Leon. I have neglected my duty towards God, by whose 
holy name I have many times sworn. I have not sanctified 
his holy days as I was obliged by law, nor honored my pa- 
rents and superiors. I have many and many times desired 
the death of my neighbors, when I was in a passion. I have 
been deeply engaged in amorous intrigues with many people 
of all ranks, but these two years past most constantly with 
Don Pedro Hasta, who is the only support of my life. 

Conf. Now I find out the reason why you have so long ne- 
glected to come and confess ; and I do expect, that you will tell 
me all the circumstances of your life, that I may judge the 
present state of your conscience. 

Leon. Father, as for the sins of my youth, till I was sixteen 
years of age, they are of no great consequence, and I hope 
God will pardon me. Now my general confession begins from 
that time, when I fell into the first sin, which was in the fol- 
lowing manner: 

The confessor of our family was a Franciscan friar, who 
was absolute master in our house ; for my father and mother 
were entirely governed by him. It was about that time of my 
life I lost my mother ; and a month after her my father died, 
leaving all his substance to the father confessor, to dispose of 
at his own fancy, reserving only a certain part which I was to 
have, to settle me in the world, conditionally that I was obe- 
dient to him. A month after my father's death, on pretence 
of taking care of every thing that was in the house, he ordered 
a bed for himself in the chamber next to mine, where my maid 
also used to lie. After supper, the first night he came home, 
he addressed himself thus to me : My daughter, you may with 
reason call me your father, for you are the only child your 
father left under my care. Your patrimony is in my hands, 
and you ought to obey me blindly in every thing: So in the 
first place order your maid's bed to be removed out of your 
own chamber into another. Which being done accordingly, 
we parted, and went each one to our own room; but scarcely 
had an hour past away, when the father came into my cham- 
ber, and what by flattery and promises, and what by threat- 
enings, he deprived me of my best patrimony, my innocence. 
We continued this course of life till, as I believe, he was tired 
of me : for two months after, he took every thing out of the 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



31 



house, and went to his convent, where he died in ten days 
time ; and his death I lost the patrimony left me by my fa- 
ther, andwuh it all my support; and as my parents had spared 
nothing in my education, and as I had always been kept in the 
greatest affluence, you may judge how I was affected by the 
miserable circumstances I was then left in, with servants to 
maintain, and nothing in the world to supply even the neces- 
sary expenses of my house. This made me the more ready 
to accept the first offer that should be made me, and my con- 
dition being known to an officer of the army, he came to offer 
me his humble services. I complied with his desire, and so for 
two years we lived together, till at last he was obliged to re- 
pair to his regiment at Catalonia ; and though he left me ap- 
pointments more than sufficient for my subsistence during his 
absence, yet all our correspondence was soon broken off by his 
death, which happened soon after. Then, resolving to alter 
my life and conversation, I went to confess, and after having 
given an account to my confessor of my life, he asked my 
name, did promise to come the next day to see me, and to put 
me into a comfortable and creditable way of living. I was 
very glad to get such a patron, and so the next day I waited at 
home for him. 

The father came, and after various discourses, he took me 
by the hand into my chamber, and told me that if I was wil- 
ling to put in his hands my jewels, and what other things of 
value I had got from the officer, he would engage to get a 
gentleman suitable to my condition to'marry me. I did every 
thing as he desired me ; and so taking along with him all I had 
in the world, he carried them to his cell. 

The next day he came to see me, and made me another 
proposal, very different from what I expected ; for he told me 
that I must comply with his desire, or else he would expose 
me, and inform against me before the holy tribunal of the in- 
quisition : So, rather than incur that danger, I did for the space 
of six months, in which, having nothing to live upon, (for he 
kept my jewels,) I was obliged to abandon myself to many 
other gentlemen, by whom I was maintained. 

At last, he left me, and I still continued my wicked life, un- 
lawfully conversing with married and unmarried gentlemen a 
whole year, and not daring to confess, for fear of experiencing 
the same treatment from another confessor. 

Conf, But how could you fulfil the precept of the church, 
and not be exposed in the church after Easter, all that while 1 

Leon. I went to an old easy father, and promised him a pis- 



32 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



tole for a certificate of confession, which he gave me with- 
out further inquiring into the matter; and so I did satisfy the 
curate of the parish with it. But last year I went to confess, 
and the confessor was very strict, and would not give me abso- 
lution, because I was an habitual sinner; but I gave him five 
pistoles for ten masses, and then he told me that a confessor's 
duty was to take care of the souls in purgatory, and that upon 
their account he could not refuse me absolution ; so by that 
way I escaped the censure of the church. 

Conf. How long is it since you broke off your sinful life ? 

Leon. But six weeks. 

Conf. I cannot absolve you now, but come again next 
Thursday, and I will consult upon all the circumstances of 
your life and then I will absolve you, 

Leon. Father, I have more to say : For I stole from the 
church a chalice, by the advice of the said confessor, and he 
made use himself of the money I got for the silver, which I 
cut in pieces ; and I did converse unlawfully several times in 
the church with him. To this I must add an infinite number 
of sins by thought, word and deed, I have committed in this 
time, especially with the last person of my acquaintance, 
though at present I am free from him. 

Conf. Pray give me leave to consult upon all these things, 
and I will resolve them to you the next confession ; now go 
in peace. 

The first point to be resolved was whether Leonore could 
sue the Franciscan convent for the patrimony left by her fa- 
ther in the confessor's hands? 

The president went through all the reasons, pro and con, 
and after resolved, that although the said Leonore was never 
disobedient to her confessor, she could not sue the community 
without lessening her own reputation, and laying upon the or- 
der so black a crime as that of her confessor; and that it was 
the common maxim of all casuists that, In rebus dubiis, mini- 
mum est sequendum, in things doubtful, that of the least evil 
consequence is to be pursued; and seeing the losing of her 
patrimony would be less damage than the exposing of the 
whole Franciscan order, and her own reputation : It did seem 
proper to leave the thing as it was. 

The second point to be resolved was whether Leonore was 
in proxima occasione peccati, in the next occasion of sin, with 
such a confessor the two first months ? 

Six members of the academy did think that she was; for 
immediate occasion of sin signifies, that the person may satisfy 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



33 



his passions toties quoties, without any impediment which Leo- 
nore could do all that while. But the other members of the 
academy did object against it: That the nature of occasio 
proximo,, besides the said reason, implies freedom and liberty, 
which Leonore did want at that time, being as she was, young, 
inexperienced, timorous, and under the confessor's care and 
power ,- so it was resolved, that she was not the first two months 
in proximo, occasione peccati. 

The third point : Whether she committed greater sin with 
the second confessor, who threatened her with the inquisition? 
And whether she was obliged to undergo all the hardships, 
nay, death itself, rather than comply with the confessor's 
desire? 

It was resolved nemine contradicente, that she was obliged 
for self-preservation's sake, to comply with the friar's desire, 
and therefore her sin was less than other sins. 

The fourth : Whether she was obliged to make restitution 
of the chalice she stole out of the church by the advice of the 
confessor? 

The members could not agree in the decision of this point, 
for some were of opinion that both she and the friar were obli- 
ged to make restitution grounded in the moral maxim : Faci- 
entes, et consentientes eadem paena puniuntur, those that act 
and those who consent are to be punished alike. Others said, 
that Leonore was only an instrument of theft, and that the 
friar did put her in the way of doing what she never had done, 
but for fear of him, and that she was forced to do it; therefore, 
that she had not committed sacrilege, nay, nor venial sin by 
it; and that the friar only was guilty of sacrilege and rob- 
bery, and obliged to make restitution. Upon this division, tho 
Rev. Mr. Ant. Palomo, then professor of philosophy, was ap- 
pointed to lay the case before the members of the great acad- 
emy, with this limitation, that he should not mention any 
thing of the friar in it, except the members of the academy 
should ask him the aggravating circumstances in the case. 

He did it accordingly, and being asked by the president 
about the circumstances, it was resolved that Leonore was 
free from restitution, taking a bull of pardons. And as for 
the friar, by his belonging to the community, and having noth- 
ing of his own, and obliged to leave at his death, every thing 
to the convent, he must be excused from making such restitu- 
tion, &c. 

The fifth point : Whether the church was desecrated by 
their unlawful commerce? and whether the confessor was 




MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



obliged to reveal the nature of the thing to the bishop or 
not? 

As to the first part, all did agree, that the church was pol- 
luted. As to the second, four were of opinion, that the thing 
was to be revealed to the bishop in general terms ; but sixteen 
did object against it, and said that the dominical, asperges me 
Hysopo, et mundabor, thou shalt sprinkle me with hysop, and 
I shall be clean, &c. When the priest with the holy water 
and hysop sprinkles the church, it was enough to restore and 
purify the church. 

After which, the president moved another question, viz: 
Whether this private confession was to be entered in the aca- 
demy's book; ad perpetuam rei memoriam, in perpetual mem- 
ory of the thing. And it was agreed to enter the cases and 
resolutions, mentioning nothing concerning the confessors, nor 
their orders. Item, it was resolved that the proponent could 
safely in conscience absolve Leonore the next confession, if 
she had the bull of indulgences, and promised to be zealous 
in the correction and penance, which he was to give her &c. 
And accordingly he did, and Leonore was absolved. 

The private confession proposed in the Academy, by father Gasca, Jesuit, 
and member of the Academy: of a woman of thirty-three years of age. 

Most reverend and learned fathers, I have thought fit not 
to trouble you with the methodical way of private confession I 
heard last Sunday, but to give you only an account of the diffi- 
cult case in it. The case is this: a woman of thirty-three 
years of age, came to confess, and told me, that from sixteen 
years of age, till twenty-four, she had committed all sorts of 
lewdness, only with ecclesiastical persons, having in every 
convent a friar, who, under the name of cousin, did use to vis- 
it her: — and notwithstanding the multiplicity of cousins, she 
lived so poorly, that she was forced to turn procuress it the 
same time, for new cousins, and that she had followed that 
wicked life till thirty-two years of age. The last year she 
dreamed that the devil was very free with her, and those 
dreams or visions continuing for a long while, she found her- 
self with child ; and she protests that she knew no man for four- 
teen months before. — She is delivered of a boy, and she says 
that he is the devil's son, and that her conscience is so troub- 
led about it, that if I do not find some way to quiet her mind, 
she will lay violent hands upon herself. I asked her leave to 
consult the case, with a promise to resolve it next Sunday. 
Now I ask your wise advice upon this case. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



35 



The president said, that the case was impossible, and that 
the woman was mad ; that he was of the opinion to send the 
woman to the physicians to be cured of some bodily distemper 
she was troubled with. The Jesuit proponent replied, that 
the woman was in her perfect senses, and that the case well 
required further consideration: upon which, F. Antonio Pal- 
omo, who was reputed the most learned of the academy, said, 
that saint Augustin treats de Incubo et Sucubo, and he would 
examine the case, and see whether he might not give some 
light for the resolution of the case ? 

And another member said, that there was in the case some- 
thing more than apparition and devilish liberty, and that he 
thought fit that the father Jesuit should inquire more carefully 
into the matter, and go himself to examine the house, and 
question the people of it; which being approved by the whole 
assembly, he did it the next morning, and in the afternoon, 
being an extraordinary meeting, he came and said, 

Most reverend and learned fathers, the woman was so 
strongly possessed with such a vision, that she has made pub- 
lic the case among the neighbors, and it is spread abroad. 
Upon which the inquisitors did send for the woman and the 
maid, and this has discovered the whole story, viz : That fa- 
ther Conchillos, victorian friar, was in love with the woman, but 
she could not endure the sight of him. That he gained the 
maid, and by that means he got into the house every night, 
and the maid putting some opium into her mistress's supper, 
she fell fast asleep, and the said father did lie with her six 
nights together. So the child is not the son of the devil, but 
of father Conchillos. Afterwards it was resolved to enter 
the case for a memorandum, in the academy's book. 

The friar was put into inquisition for having persuaded the 
maid to tell her mistress that it was the devil ; for she had 
been under the same fear, and really she was in the same 
condition. What became of the friar I do not know, this I do 
aver for a truth, that I spoke with the woman myself, and with 
the maid ; and that the children used to go to her door, and 
call for the son of the devil. And being so mocked, she left 
the city in a few days after, and we were told that she lived 
after a retired christian life in the country. 

The private confession of a priest, being at the point of death, in 1710. I 
shall call him Don Paulo. 

Don Paulo. Since God Almighty is pleased to visit me with 
this sickness^ I ought to make good use of the time I have to 



36 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



live, and I desire of you to help me with your prayers, and to 
take the trouble to write some substantial points of my confes- 
sion, that you may perform, after my death, whatever I think 
may enable me in some measure, to discharge my duty to- 
wards God and men. When I was ordained priest, I made a 
general confession of all my sins from my youth to that time - T 
and I wish I could now be as true a penitent as I was at that 
time; but I hope, though I fear too late, that God will hear 
the prayer of my heart. 

I have served my parish sixteen years, and all my care has 
been to discover the tempers and inclinations of my parishion- 
ers, and I have been as happy in this world as unhappy before 
my Saviour. I have in ready money fifteen thousand pistoles, 
and I have given away more than six thousand. I had no pat- 
rimony, and my living is worth but four hundred pistoles a 
year. By this you may easily know, that my money is unlaw- 
fully gotten, as I shall tell you, if God spare my life till I make 
an end of my confession. There are in my parish sixteen 
hundred families, and more or less, I have defrauded them all 
some way or other. 

My thoughts have been impure ever since I began to hear 
confessions; my words grave and severe with them all, and all 
my parishioners have respected and feared me. I have had 
so great an empire over them, that some of them knowing of 
my misdoings, have taken my defence in public. They have 
had in me a solicitor, in all emergencies, and I have omitted 
nothing to please them in outward appearance; but my actions 
have been the most criminal of mankind ; for as to my ecclesi- 
astical duty, what I have done has been for custom's sake. 
The necessary intention of a priest, in the administration of 
baptism and consecration, without which the sacraments are of 
no effect, I confess I had it not several times, as you shall see, 
in the parish books; and observe there, that all these names 
marked with a star, the baptism was not valid, for I had no in- 
tention : And for this I can give no other reason than my mal- 
ice and wickedness. Many of them are dead, for which I am 
heartily sorry. As for the times I have consecrated without 
intention, we must leave it to God Almighty's mercy, for the 
wrong done by it to the souls of my parishioners, and those in 
purgatory cannot be helped. 

As to the confessions and wills I have received from my pa- 
rishioners at the point of their death, I do confess, I have made 
myself master of as much as I could, and by that means I have 
gathered together all my riches. I have sent this morning for 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



37 



fifty bulls, and I have given one hundred pistoles for the bene- 
fit of the holy crusade, by which his holiness secures my soul 
from eternal death. 

As to my duty towards God, I am guilty to the highest de- 
gree, for I have not loved him; I have neglected to say the 
private divine service at home every day; I have polluted his 
holy days by my grievous sins ; I have not minded my superi- 
ors in the respect due to them ; and I have been the cause of 
many innocent deaths. I have procured, by remedies, sixty 
abortions, making the fathers of the children their murderers ; 
besides many other intended, though not executed, by some 
unexpected accident. 

As to the sixth commandment, I cannot confess by particu- 
lars, but by general heads, my sins. I confess, in the first 
place, that I have frequented the parish club twelve years. — 
We were only six parish priests in it ; and there we did con- 
sult and contrive all the ways to satisfy our passions. Ev- 
ery body had a list of the handsomest women in the parish ; 
and when one had a fancy to see any woman, remarkable for 
her beauty, in another's parish, the priest of her parish sent for 
her to his own house ; and having prepared the way for wick- 
edness, the other had nothing to do but to meet her there, and 
fulfil his desires; and so we have served one another these 
twelve years past. Our method has been, to persuade the 
husbands and fathers not to hinder them any spiritual com- 
fort; and to the ladies to persuade them to be subject to our 
advice and will; and that in so doing, they should have liberty 
at any time to go out on pretence of communicating some 
spiritual business to the priest. And if they refused to do it, 
then we should speak to their husbands and fathers not to let 
them go out at all ; or, which would be worse for them, we 
should inform against them to the holy tribunal of inquisition : 
And by these diabolical persuasions they were at our com- 
mand, without fear of revealing the secret. 

I have spared no woman of my parish, whom I had a fancy 
for, and many other of my brethren's parishes ; but I cannot 
tell the number. I have sixty nepotes alive, of several women : 
But my principal care ought to be of those that I have by 
the two young women I keep at home since their parents 
died. Both are sisters, and I had by the eldest two boys, and* 1 
by the youngest, one ; and one which I had by my own sister 
is dead. Therefore I leave to my sister five thousand pistoles, 
upon condition that she would enter nun in St. Bernard's 
monastery ; and upon the same condition I leave two thousand 
D 



38 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



pistoles a-piece to the two young women ; and the remainder 
I leave to my three nepotes under the care of Mossen John 
Peralta, and ordering that they should be heirs to one another, 
if any of them should die before they are settled in the world, 
and if all should die, I leave the money to the treasury of the 
church, for the benefit of the souls in purgatory. Item: I or- 
der that all the papers of such a little trunk be burnt after my 
confession is over, (which was done accordingly,) and that the 
holy bull of the dead be bought before I die, that I may have 
the comfort of having at home the Pope's pass for the next 
world. Now I ask your penance and absolution for all the 
sins reserved in all the bulls, from the first Pope ; for which 
purpose I have taken the bull of privileges in such cases as 
mine. 

So I did absolve him, and assist him afterwards, and he died 
the next day. What to do in such a case, was all my uneasi- 
ness after his death ; for if I did propose the case before the 
members of the academy, every body could easily know the 
person, which was against one of the articles we did swear at 
our admittance into it : And if I did not propose it, I should 
act against another article. All my difficulty was about the 
baptisms which he had administered without intention : For it 
is the known opinion of their church, that the intention of a 
priest is absolutely necessary to the validity of the sacrament, 
and that without it there is no sacrament at all. I had exam- 
ined the books of the parish, and I found a hundred and fifty- 
two names marked with a star, and examining the register of 
the dead, I found eighty-six of them dead : According to the 
principles of the church, all those that were alive were to be 
baptized; which could not be done without great scandal, and 
prejudice to the clergy. In this uneasiness of mind I con- 
tinued, till I went to visit the reverend father John Garcia, 
who had been my master in divinity, and I did consult him, 
on the case, sub secrcto naturali. He did advise me to pro- 
pose the case to the assembly, upon supposition, that if such 
a case should happen, what should be done in it; and he recom- 
mended to me to talk with a great deal of caution, and to in- 
sist that it ought to be communicated to the bishop ; and if the 
members did agree with me, then without further confession, 
I was to go to the bishop, and tell his lordship the case, under 
secrecy of confession: I did so, and the bishop said he would 
send for the books, and take the list of all those names ; and 
as many of them as could be found he would send foi, one by 
one, into his own chamber, and baptize them; commanding 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



39 



them, under the pain of ecclesiastical censure, not to talk of it, 
neither in public or private. But as for the other sins, there 
was no necessity for revealing them, for by virtue of the bull 
of Crusade, (of which I shall speak in the second chapter,) we 
could absolve them all. 

Hear, O heaven! Give ear, O earth! And be horribly aston- 
ished ! To see the best religion in the world turned into super- 
stition and folly ; to see, too, that those who are to guide the 
people, and put their flock in the way of salvation, are wolves 
in sheep's clothing, that devour them, and put them into the 
way of damnation. O God, open the eyes of the ignorant 
people, that they may see the injuries done to their souls by 
their own guides ! 

I do not write this out of any private end, to blame all 
1 sorts of confessors; for there are some who, according to the 
principles of their religion, do discharge their duty with exact- 
ness and purity, and whose lives, in their own way, are un- 
blamable, and without reproach among men. Such confes- 
sors as these I am speaking of, are sober in their actions : 
they mortify their bodies with fasting over and above the rules 
prescribed by the church, by discipline, by kneeling down 
in their closets six or eight hours every day, to meditate on 
the holy mysteries, the goodness of God, and to pray to him 
for all sorts of sinners, that they may be brought to repent- 
ance and salvation, &c. They sleep but few hours. They 
spend most of their spare time in reading the ancient fathers 
of the church, and other books of devotion. 

They live poorly, because whatever they have, the poor are 
enjoyers of it. The time they give to the public is but very 
little, and not every day ; and then whatever counsels they 
give are right, sincere, without flattery or interest. All pious, 
religious persons do solicit their acquaintance and conversa- 
tion ; but they avoid all pomp and vanity, and keep them- 
selves, as much as they can, within the limits of solitude ; and 
if they make some visits, it must be upon urgent necessity. 
Sometimes you may find them in the hospitals among the 
poor, sick, helping and exhorting them : but they go there 
most commonly in the night, for what they do, they do it not 
out of pride, but humility. 

I knew some of these exemplary men, but a very few ; and 
I heard some of them preach with a fervent zeal about the 
promoting of Christ's religion, and exhorting the people to 
put their lives voluntarily in the defence of the Roman-Catho- 
lic faith, and extirpate and destroy all the enemies of their 



40 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



communion. I do not pretend to judge them, for judgment 
belongeth to God : This I say with St. Paul, that if those re- 
ligious men have a zeal of God, their zeal is not according to 
knowledge. 

The private confession of a Nun, in the convent of S. O. — Before I begin 
the confession, it will not be improper to give an account of the cus- 
toms of the nuns, and places of their confessions. 

By the constitutions of their order, so many days are ap- 
pointed, in which all the nuns are obliged to confess, from the 
Mother Abbess to the very wheeler,- i. e. the nun that turns 
the wheel near the door, through which they give and receive 
every thing they want. They have a father confessor and a 
father companion, who live next to the convent, and have a 
small grate in the wall of their chamber, which answers to 
the upper cloister or gallery of the convent. The confessor 
hath care of the souls of the convent, and he is obliged to say 
mass every day, hear confessions, administer the sacraments, 
and visit the sick nuns. There are several narrow closets in 
the church, with a small iron grate : One side answers to the 
cloister, and the other to the church. So the nun being on the 
inside and the confessor on the outside, they hear one an- 
other. There is a large grate facing the great altar, and the 
holes of it are a quarter of a yard square ; but that grate is 
double, that is, one within and another without, and the distance 
between both is more than half a yard. And besides these, 
there is another grate for relations, and benefactors of the 
community, which grate is single, and consists of very thin 
iron bars : the holes of such a grate are near a quarter and a 
half square. In all those grates the nuns confess their sins: 
for, on a solemn day, they send for ten or twelve confessors; 
otherwise they could not confess the fourth part of them, for 
there are in some monasteries 110 nuns, in others 80, in oth- 
ers 40, but this last is a small number. 

The nuns' father-confessor hath but little trouble with the 
young nuns, for they generally send for a confessor who is a 
stranger to them, so that his trouble is with the old ones, who 
have no business at the grate. These trouble their confessor 
almost every day with many ridiculous trifles, and will keep 
the poor man two hours at the grate, telling him how many 
times they have spit in the church, how many flies they have 
killed, how many times they have flown into a passion with 
their lap dogs, and other nonsensical, ridiculous things like 
these; and the reason is because they have nothing to do, no* 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



41 



body goes to visit them nor cares for them ; so sometimes they 
choose to be spies for the young nuns, when they are at the grate 
with their gallants; and for fear of their Mother Abbess, they 
place some of the old nuns before the door of the parlor, to watch 
the Mother Abbess, and to give them timely notice of her coming ; 
and the poor old nuns perform this office with a great deal of 
pleasure, faithfulness, and some profit too. But I shall not say 
any more of them, confining myself wholly to the way of 
living among the young nuns. 

Many gentlemen send their daughters to the nunnery when 
they are some five, some six, some eight years old, under the 
care of some nun of their relations, or else some old nun of 
their acquaintance; and there they get education till they 
are fifteen years old. The tutress takes a great deal of care 
not to let them go to the grate, nor converse with men all the 
while, to prevent in them the knowledge and love of the 
world. They are caressed by all the nuns, and thinking it 
will be always so, they are very well pleased with their con- 
finement. They have only liberty to go to the grate to their 
parents or relations, and always accompanied with the old 
mother tutress. And when they are fifteen years old, which 
is the age fixed by the constitutions of all the orders, they re- 
ceive the habit of a nun, and begin the year of noviciate, 
which is the year of trial to see whether they can go through 
all the hardships, fastings, disciplines, prayers, hours of divine 
service, obedience, poverty, chastity, and penances practised 
in the monastery: But the prioress or abbess, and the rest of 
the professed nuns, do dispense with, and excuse the novices 
from all the severities, for fear that the novices should be 
dissatisfied with, and leave the convent: And in this they are 
very much in the wrong; for, besides that they do not observe 
the precepts of their monastical rule, they deceive the poor, 
ignorant, inexperienced young novices, who, after their pro- 
fession and vows of perpetuity, do heartily repent they had 
been so much indulged. Thus the novices, flattered in the 
year of noviciate, and thinking they will be so all their life 
time, when the year is expired, make profession, and swear to 
observe chastity, obedience and poverty, during their lives, and 
clauswa, i. e. confinement; obliging themselves, by it, never 
to go out of the monastery. 

After the profession is made, they begin to feel the severity 
and hardships of the monastical life ; for one is made a door- 
keeper ; another turner of the wheel, to receive and deliver by 
it all the nuns' messages; another bell nun, that is to call the 

d2 



42 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



nuns, when any one comes to visit them; another baker; anoth- 
er book-keeper of all the rents and expenses, and the like ; and 
in the performance of all these employments, they must ex- 
pend a great deal of their own money. After this they have 
liberty to go to the grate, and talk with gentlemen, priests and 
friars, who only go there as a gallant goes to see his mistress. 
So when the young nuns begin to have a notion of the pleas- 
ures of the world, and how they have been deceived, they 
are heartily sorry, but too late, for there is no remedy. And 
minding nothing but to satisfy their passions as well as they 
can, they abandon themselves to all sorts of wickedness and 
amorous intrigues. 

There is another sort of nuns, whom the people call las for- 
cadas, the forced nuns; i. e. those who have made a false step 
in the world, and cannot find husbands, on account of their 
crimes being public. Those are despised and ill used by 
their parents and relations, till they choose to go to the nun- 
nery : So by this it is easily known what sort of nuns they 
will make. 

Now as to the spending of their time. They get up at six 
in the morning and go to prayers, and to hear mass till seven. 
From seven till ten, they work or go to breakfast, either in 
their chambers, or in the common hall. At ten they go to the 
great mass till eleven : After it, they go to dinner. After 
dinner, they may divert themselves till two. At two they go 
to prayers, for a quarter of an hour, or (if they sing vespers) 
for half an hour; and afterwards they are free till the next 
morning : So every one is waiting for her devoto, that is, a gal- 
lant, or spiritual husband, as they call him. When it is dark 
evening, they send away the devotos, and the doors are locked 
up; so they go to their own chamber to write a billet, or letter 
to the spiritual husband, which they send in the morning to 
them, and get an answer; and though they see one another 
almost every day, for all that, they must write to one another 
every morning: And these letters of love, they call the recrea- 
tion of the spirit for the time the devotos are absent from 
them. Every day they must give one another an account of 
whatever thing they have done since the last visit; and in- 
deed there are warmer expressions of love and jealousy be- 
tween the nun and the devoto, than between real wife and 
husband. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



43 



Now I come to the private confession ; and I wish I could have the style 
of an angel, to express myself with purity and modesty in this confes- 
sion. 

Nun. Reverend Father, as the number of my sins are so 
great, and so great the variety of circumstances attending 
them; mistrusting my memory, I have set down in writing 
this confession, that you may entirely be acquainted with ev- 
ery thing that troubles my conscience ; and so I humbly beg 
of you to read it. 

Conf. I did approve the method of writing, but you ought 
to read it yourself, or else it cannot be oris confessio, or con- 
fession by mouth. 

Nun. If it is so, I begin. I thought fit to acquaint you 
with the circumstances of my past life, that you may form a 
right judgment of my monastical life and conversation, which 
in some measure, will excuse me before the world, though not 
before God, our righteous judge. 

I am the only daughter of counsellor N. E. who brought me 
up in the fear of God, and gave me a writing master, which is 
a rare thing. I was not quite thirteen years of age, when a 
gentleman of quality, though not very rich, began his love to 
me by letters which he (gaining my writing master) sent to me 
by him. There was nothing in the world so obliging, civil, 
modest and endearing, as his expressions seemed to me, and at 
last having the opportunity of meeting him at the house of one 
of my aunts, his person and conversation did so charm my 
heart, that a few days after we gave one another reciprocal 
promises of an eternal union: But by a letter which was un- 
fortunately miscarried, and fell into my father's hands, our 
honest designs were discovered; and without telling me any 
thing, he went to see the gentleman, and spoke to him in this 
manner : Sir, my daughter, in discharging of her duty to so good 
a father, has communicated to me your honorable designs, and 
I come to thank you for the honor you are pleased to do my 
family : But, being so young, we think proper to put off the 
performance of it, till she comes to be fifteen years of age : 
Now she, and I also, as a father to you both, (for I look upon you 
as upon my own son) do desire of you the favor not to give 
any public occasion of censure to the watchful neighbors, and 
if you have any regard for her, I hope you will do this and 
more for her and for me : And to shew you my great affection, I 
offer you a captain's commission in the regiment that the city 
raiseth for the king, and advise you to serve two years, and 



44 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



afterwards, you may accomplish your desire. The gentleman 
accepted it, and the next day the commission was signed and 
delivered to him, with an order to go to Catalonia. At the 
same time the writing master was sent out of the town under 
pretence of receiving some money from my father; and I 
was kept close at home, so he could not get an opportunity 
of seeing or writing to me ; for my father told him I was 
sick in bed. As soon as he left the town, my father told me 
that he was dead, and that I must retire myself into the nun- 
nery, for that was his will : So immediately he brought me 
here, and gave severe directions to the mother abbess, not to 
let me see any body but himself. Indeed, he did spare noth- 
ing to please me, until I received the habit, and made the 
profession and vows of a monastical life : After which he 
told me the whole story himself; and the gentleman was kill- 
ed in Catalonia the first campaign. 

I do confess, that ever since, I did not care what should be- 
come of me, and I have abandoned myself to all the sins I 
have been capable to commit. It is but ten months since I 
made my profession, and bound myself to perpetuity; though 
as I did it without intention, I am not a nun before God, nor 
obliged to keep the vow of religion ; and of this opinion are 
many other nuns, especially ten young nuns, my intimate 
friends, who, as well as I, do communicate to one another the 
most secret things of our hearts. 

Each of this assembly has her devoto, and we are every day 
in the afternoon at the grate : We shew one another the letters 
we receive from them, and there is nothing that we do not in- 
vent for the accomplishment of our pleasures. 

Conf. Pray, confess your own sins, and omit the sins of 
your friends. 

Nun. I cannot, for my sins are so confounded with the sins 
of my friends, that I cannot mention the one without the 
other. 

But coming now to my greatest sin, I must tell you, that a 
nun of our assembly has a friar her devoto, the most beautiful 
young man, and we contrived and agreed together to bring 
him into the convent, as we did, and have kept him two and 
twenty days in our chamber : During which time we went to 
the grate very seldom, on pretence of being not well. We 
have given no scandal, for nobody has suspected the least 
thing in the case. And this is the greatest sin I have commit- 
ted with man. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



45 



Conf. Pray, tell me, how could you let him in without 
scandal ? 

Nun. One of the assembly contrived to mat all the floor of 
her chamber, and sent for the mat-maker to take the measure 
of the length and breadth of the room, and to make it in one 
piece, and send it to the Sexton's chamber^ who is a poor ig- 
norant fellow. When the mat was there, and the man paid for 
it, one day in the evening we sent the sexton on several mes- 
sages, and kept the key of his room/ The friar had asked 
leave of his prior to go into the country for a month's time, 
and disguising himself in a layman's habit, feeing well two 
porters, came in the dusk of the evening, into the sexton's room, 
and rolling up himself in the mat, the porters brought the mat 
to the door, where we were waiting for it ; and, taking it, we 
carried it up to one of our chambers. We were afraid that 
the porters would discover the thing, but by money we have 
secured ourselves from them; for we hired ruffians to make 
away with them. We put him out of the convent in a great 
chest which could be opened on the inside, and of which he had 
the key, and giving the chest to the sexton, he and the ser- 
vant of the convent carried it into the sexton's room. We or- 
dered him to leave the key at the door, for we expected some 
relations which were to take a collation there ; and we sent 
liim on some errand till the friar had got out of the chest and 
of danger. 

A month after, three of our friends began to perceive the 
condition they were in, and left the convent in one night, by 
which they have given great scandal to the city, and we do 
not know what has become of them ; as for me, I design to do 
the same, for I am under the same apprehensions and fe'ar; 
for I consider that if I do continue in the convent, my unusual 
size will discover me, and though one life shall be saved, I 
shall lose mine by the rulers of our order in a miserable man- 
ner, and not only so, but a heavy reflection will fall upon the 
whole order, and the dishonor of my family shall be the more 
public : Whereas, if I quit the convent by night, I save two lives, 
and the world will reflect only upon me, and then I shall take 
care to go so far off that nobody shall hear of me ; and as I am 
sure, in my conscience, that I am not a nun for want of inten- 
tion, when I did promise to keep obedience, chastity, poverty, 
and perpetuity, I shall not incur the crime of apostacy in leav- 
ing the convent; and if I continue in it, I am fully resolved to 
prevent my ruin and death by a strong operating remedy. 



46 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



This is all I have to say, and I do expect from you not only 
your advice, but your assistance too. 

Conf. I do find the case so intricate, that 1 want experi- 
ence and learning to resolve what to do in it; and I do think 
it proper for you to send for another confessor of years and 
learning, and then you shall have the satisfaction of being well 
directed and advised. 

Nun. Now, reverend father, I do tell you positively, that 
I shall never open my heart to another confessor, while I live ; 
and if you do not advise me what to do, I shall call you before 
God for it; and now I lay upon you whatever thing may hap- 
pen in my case. 

Conf. Ignorance will excuse me from sin, and I tell you I 
am ignorant how to resolve the case. 

Nun. I am resolved for all events, and if you refuse me 
this comfort, I shall cry out, and say, that you have been soli- 
citing and corrupting me in the very act of confession, and you 
shall suffer for it in the inquisition. 

Conf. Well, have patience, means may be found out; and 
if you give me leave to consult the case, I shall resolve you 
about it in three days time. 

Nun. How can you consult my case, without exposing the 
order, and my reputation too, perhaps, by some circumstance? 

Conf. Leave it to me, and be not uneasy about it, and I do 
promise to come with the resolution on Sunday next. 

Nun. Pray, Father, if it be possible, come next Monday 
morning, and I shall be free from company. 

Conf. It is very well : but in the mean time, have before 
your eyes the wrath of God against those that abandon them- 
selves and forget that he is a living God, to punish suddenly 
great sinners ; and with this, farewell. 

My mind never before was so much troubled as it was after 
this case. I was, more by the interests of others, than by my 
learning, appointed penitentiary confessor in the cathedral 
church of St. Salvator; and as the duty of such a confessor is 
to be every day, in the morning, four hours in the confessiona- 
ry, from eight to twelve, except he be called abroad — every 
body thinks that such a confessor must be able to resolve all 
cases and difficulties: But it was not so with me; for I was 
young and without experience. And as to this case, the next 
academical day I proposed it in the following manner : 

There is a person bound by word of mouth, but at the same 
time without intention, nay, with a mind and heart averse to it; 
bound, I say, to obedience, chastity, and poverty. If the person 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



47 



leaves the convent, the crime of apostacy is not committed in 
foro interno ; and if the person continues in the convent, the 
consequence is to be a great sin in foro externo and interno. 
The person expects the resolution, or else is fully resolved to 
expose the confessor to scandal and personal sufferings : This 
is the case which I humbly lay down before your learned re- 
verences. 

The president's opinion was, that in such a case, the con- 
fessor was obliged, in the first place, to reveal it in general 
terms to the holy inquisitors ; for (said he) though this case is 
not mentioned in our authors, there are others very like this, 
which ought to be revealed, viz : all those that are against ei- 
ther the temporal or spiritual good of our neighbor, which cases 
are reserved to the bishop or to his deputy; and this case, by 
the last circumstance, being injurious to the holy tribunal, the 
confessor ought to prevent the scandal which might otherwise 
fall upon him, to reveal the last circumstance. As for the first 
circumstance of the case, in this and others, we must judge se- 
cundum allegata and probata; and we must suppose, that no 
penitent comes to confess with a lie in his mouth ; therefore, if 
the person affirms that he was bound without intention, he is 
free before God : Besides, in rebus dubiis minimum est sequen- 
dum; so to prevent greater evil, I think the person may be ad- 
vised to quit the convent; and this is agreeable to the Pope's 
dispensations to such persons, when they swear and produce 
witness, that (before they were bound to the vow) heard the 
person say they had no intention to it. 

The reverend Mr. Palomo's opinion was, that the confessor 
was to take the safest part, which was to advise the penitent 
to send to Rome for a dispensation, which could be obtained by 
money, or to the Pope's Nuncio, who would give leave to quit 
the convent for six months, upon necessity of preserving or re- 
covering bodily health ; and in that time, may be the person 
would dissipate some fumes of grief or melancholy fancies, &c. 

But I replied to this, that the person could not do the first, 
for want of witness, nor the second, for being in perfect health, 
the physician never would grant his certificate to be produced 
before the Pope's Nuncio, which is absolutely necessary in 
such cases ; and as to revealing the case to the holy inquisi- 
tors, it is very dangerous, both to the person and the confessor, 
as we could prove by several instances. 

To this, several members being of my opinion, it was re- 
solved, that the confessor, first of all, was to absolve the peni- 
tent, having a bull of cruzade and extra confessioncm, or out of 



48 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



confession give, as a private person, advice to the penitent to 
quit the convent and take a certificate : Wherein the penitent 
was to specify, that the confessor had given such advice extra 
actum confessionis. The case and resolution was entered in 
the academy's book. And accordingly Monday following, I 
went to the nun and performed what was resolved ; and the 
very same week, we heard in the city, that such a nun had 
made her escape out of the convent. 

Two years and a half after this, I saw this very nun one 
day at the court of Lisbon, but I did not speak with her, for as 
I was dressed like an officer of the army, I thought she would 
not know me ; but I was mistaken, for she knew me in my dis- 
guise as well as I did her. The next day she came to my 
lodgings followed by a lacquey, who, by her orders, had dogged 
me the night before. I was so troubled for fear to be discover- 
ed, that I thought the best way I could take was to run away 
and secure myself in an English ship : But by her first words, 
I discovered that her fear was greater than mine : for after 
giving me an account of her escape out of the convent, and safe 
delivery, she told me that a Portuguese captain happening to 
quarter in the same town where she was, took her away one 
night, and carried her to Barcelona, but that she refusing to 
comply with his desires, on any but honorable terms, he had 
married her and brought her to Lisbon : That her husband 
knew nothing of her having been a nun : that she took another 
name, and that she was very happy with her husband, who was 
very rich, and a man of good sense. She begged me » with 
tears in her eyes not to ruin her by discovering any thing of 
her life past. I assured her, that nothing should happen on my 
account, that should disoblige her; and afterwards she asked 
me why I was not dressed in a clerical habit? To which I de- 
sired her to take no notice of it, for I was there upon secret 
business and of great consequence, and that as there was no- 
body there who knew me in Saragossa, it was proper to be dis- 
guised. She desired my leave to introduce me to her husband, 
under the title of a country gentleman, who was come thither 
for Charles the 3d's sake. I thanked her, and she went home 
overjoyed with my promise, and I was no less with hers. The 
next day her husband came to visit me, and ever after, we vis- 
ited almost every day one another, till I left that city. This I 
say, she was a better wife than she had been a nun, and lived 
more religiously in the world, than she had done in the clois- 
ter of the convent. 

Now I must leave off the account of private cases and con- 



MASTER-KEY TO rOPERY. 



49 



fessions, not to be tedious to the readers by insisting too long 
a time upon one subject. But, as I promised to the public to 
discover the most secret practices of the Romish priests, in this 
point of auricular confession, I cannot dismiss nor put an end 
to this first chapter, without performing my promise. 

By the account I have already given of a few private con- 
fessions, every body may easily know the wickedness of the 
Romish priests, but more particularly, their covetousness and 
thirst of money will be detected by my following observations. 

First of all, if a poor countryman goes to confess, the father- 
confessor takes little pains with him, for, as he expects little or 
nothing from him, he heareth him, and with bitter words cor- 
rects the poor man, and, most commonly, without any correc- 
tion, imposing upon him a hard penance, sends him away with 
the same ignorance he went to confess. 

2. If a soldier happens to go to make his peace with God, 
(so they express themselves when they go to confess) then the 
confessor sheweth the power of a spiritual guide. He ques- 
tions him about three sins only, viz. thefts, drunkenness and 
uncleanness. Perhaps the poor soldier is free from the two 
first, but if he is guilty of the last, the confessor draws the con- 
sequence that he is guilty of all the three, and terrifying him 
with hell, and all the devils, and the fire of it, he chargeth him 
with restitution, and that he is obliged to give so much money 
for the relief of the souls in purgatory, or else he cannot get 
absolution. So the poor man, out of better conscience than 
his confessor, offers a month's pay, which must be given up- 
on the spot (for in the shop of confessors there is neither 
trust nor credit) to appease the rough, bitter confessor, and 
to get absolution and I believe this hard way of using the 
poor soldiers is the reason that they do not care at all for that 
act of devotion and as they are so bad customers to the con- 
fessor's shop, the confessors use their endeavors, when they go 
to buy absolution, to sell it as dear as they can; so they pay at 
one time for two, three, or more years. 

I heard a soldier, damning the confessors, say, " if I con- 
tinue in the king's service 20 years, I will not go to confess, 
for it is easier and cheaper to lift up my finger* and be absolved 

*The custom of the Spanish army in the field, and the day before the battle, 
or before the engagement, the chaplain goes through all the companies, to ask 
the officers whether they have a mind to confess, and if any one has any thing 
to say, he whispers in the chaplain's ear, and so through all the officers. As 
for the private men : Crying out, says, he that has a sin, let him lift up one 
finger, and gives a general absolution to all at once, 

E 



50 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



by our chaplain, than to go to a devilish friar, who doth noth- 
ing but rail and grumble at me, and yet I must give him money 
for masses, or else he will not absolve me : I will give him 
leave to bury me alive, if ever he gets me near him again." 

If a collegian goes to confess, he finds a mild and sweet con- 
fessor, and without being questioned, and with a small penance, 
he generally gets absolution. The reason the confessors have to 
use the collegians with so great civility and mildness is, first, 
because if a collegian is ill-used by his confessor, he goes to a 
deaf friar, who absolves ad dexteram and ad sinistram, all 
sort« of penitents for a real of plate ; and after, he inquireth 
and examineth into all the other confessor's actions, visits and 
intrigues ; and when he has got matter enough, he will write a 
lampoon on him, which has happened very often in my time. 
So the confessor dares not meddle with the collegians, for fear 
that his tricks should be brought to light; and another reason 
is, because the collegians, for the generality are like the files 
de joye in Lent, i. e. without money, and so the confessor can- 
not expect any profit by them. 

I say, if absolution is denied to a collegian, he goes to a 
deaf confessor ; for some confessors are called deaf, not be- 
cause they are really, but because they give small penance 
without correction ; and never deny absolution, though the sins 
be reserved to the Pope. I knew two Dominican friars, who 
were known by the name of deaf confessors, because they 
never used to question the penitent. 

Only one of such confessors has more business in Lent, than 
twenty of the others, for he (like our couple-beggars, who for 
six pence do marry the people) for the same sum gives abso- 
lution. And for this reason all tho great and habitual sinners 
go to the deaf confessor, who gives, upon a bargain, a cer- 
tificate, in which he says that such a one has fulfilled the com- 
mandment of the church, for every body is obliged to pro- 
duce a certificate of confession to the minister of the parish 
before Easter, or else he must be exposed in the church : So 
as it is a hard thing for any old sinner to get absolution, and a 
certificate from other covetous confessors, without a great deal 
of money, they generally go to the deaf confessors. I had 
a friend in the same convent, who told me, that such confes- 
sors were obliged to give two-thirds of their profit to the 
community, and being only two deaf confessors in that con- 
vent, he assured me, that in ope lent, they gave to the father 
prior 600 pistoles a piece. I found the thing incredible, 
thinking that only poor and debauched people used to go to 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



51 



them; but he satisfied me, saying, that rich and poor, men 
and women, priests and nuns, were customers to them, and 
that only the poor and loose people used to go to confess in 
the church ; but as for the rich, priests and nuns, they were 
sent for by them, in the afternoon, and at night ; and that the 
poor Deafs had scarcely time to get their rest ; and that when 
they were sent for, the common price was a pistole, and some- 
times ten pistoles, according to the quality and circumstances 
of the person. And thus much of deaf confessors. 

4. If a friar or a priest comes to confess, every body ought 
to suppose, that the father-confessor has nothing to do, but to 
give the penance, and pronounce the words of absolution ; for 
both penitent and confessor being of the same trade, and of 
the same corporation, or brotherhood; the fashion of this 
cloak of absolution is not paid among them, and they work 
one for another, without any interest, in expectation of the 
same return. 

This must be understood between the friars only, not be- 
tween a friar and a secular priest; for these do not like one 
another, and the reason is, because the friars, for the general- 
ity, are such officious and insinuating persons in families, that 
by their importunities and assiduity of visits, they become at 
last the masters of families, and goods ; so the secular priest 
hath nothing to busy himself with; and observe, that there 
are twenty friars to one secular priest, so the small fish is 
eaten by the greater ; therefore, if it happens sometimes upon 
necessity, that a priest goes to confess to a friar, or a friar to 
a priest, they make use of such an opportunity, to exact as 
much as they can from one another. 

I know a good merry priest, who had been in company with 
a friar's devota, i. e. in proper terms, mistress; and jested a 
little with her: Afterwards, the poor priest having something 
to confess, and no other confessor in his way, but the devoto 
of that devota, he was forced to open his heart to him; but the 
confessor was so hard upon him, that he made him pay on the 
nail two pieces of eight, to get absolution. So he payed dear 
for jesting with the mistress of a friar; and he protested to me, 
that if it ever happened, that that friar should come to confess 
to him, he should not go away at so cheap a rate. 

This I can aver, that I went to a Franciscan convent the 
second day of August, to get the indulgences of the Jubilee of 
Porciunculae, and my confessor was so hard, that he began to 
persuade me, he could not absolve me without a pistole in 
hand : I told him, that I had not confessed any reserved sin, 



52 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



and that he did not know I could ruin him : But the friar, 
knowing that it was a great scandal to get up from his feet 
without absolution, he insisted on it; and I was obliged to 
avoid scandal, to give him his demand. After the confession 
was over, as I had been in a great passion at the unreasonable 
usage of the friar; I thought it was not fit for me to celebrate 
the Mass without a new reconciliation (as we call the short 
confession,) so I went to the father-guardian or superior of the 
convent, and confessing that sin of passion, occasioned by the 
covetous usage of such a confessor, his correction to me was, 
to pay down another pistole for scandalizing both the friar and 
the Franciscan habit; I refused the correction, and went home 
without the second absolution. I had a mind to expose both 
of them; but upon second thoughts, I did nothing at all, for 
fear that the whole order should be against me. 

5. If a modest, serious, religious lady comes to confess, he 
useth her in another way ; for he knows that such ladies never 
come to confess, without giving a good charity for Masses ; so 
all the confessor's care is, to get himself into the lady's favor, 
which he doth by hypocritical expressions of godliness and de- 
votion, of humility and strictness of life. He speaks gravely 
and conscientiously, and if the lady has a family, he gives 
her excellent advices, as, to keep her children within the 
limits of sobriety and virtue, for the world is so deceitful, that 
Ave ought always to be upon our guard ; and to watch continu- 
ally over our souls, &c. And by that means and the like, 
(the good lady believing him a sincere and devout man,) he 
becomes the guide of her soul, of her house and family, and 
most commonly the ruin of her children, and sometimes her 
own ruin too. I will give the following instance to confirm 
this truth; and as the thing was public, I need not scruple 
to mention it with the real names. In the year 1706, F. An- 
tonio Gallardo, Augustin friar, murdered Donna Isabella 
Mendez, and a child three weeks old sucking at her breast. 
The lady was but twenty-four years of age, and had been 
married eight years to Don Francisco Mendez. The friar had 
been her spiritual guide all that while, and all the family had so 
great a respect and esteem for him, that he was the absolute 
master of the house. The lady was brought to bed, and Don 
Francisco being obliged to go into the country for four days, 
desired the father to come and lie in his house, and take 
care of it in his absence. The father's room was always 
ready : so he went there the same day Don Francisco went 
into the country. At eight at night, both the father and the 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



53 



lady went to supper, and after he sent all the maids and ser- 
vants into the hall to sup, the lady took the child to give him 
suck ; and the friar told her, in plain and short reasons, his 
love, and that without any reply or delay, she must comply 
with his request. The lady said to him, Father, if you propose 
such a thing to try my faithfulness and virtue, you know my 
conscience these eight years past; and if you have any ill de- 
sign, I will call my family to prevent your further assurance. 
The friar then in a fury taking a knife, killed the child, and 
wounded so deeply the mother, that she died two hours after. 
The friar made his escape, but whether he went to his convent 
or not, we did not hear. I myself saw the lady dead, and 
went to her burial in the church of the old St. John. 

6. If a Beata goes to confess, which they do every day, or 
at least every other day, then the Confessor, with a great deal 
of patience, hears her (sure of his reward.) I cannot pass by 
without giving a plain description of the women called Beatas, 
i. e. blessed women. These are most commonly tradesmen's 
wives, [generally speaking, ugly] and of a middle age. But 
this rule has some exceptions, for there are some Beatas young 
and handsome. They are dressed with modesty, and walk, 
with a serious countenance. But since their designs in this 
outward modesty, were discovered, they are less in number 
and almost out of fashion, since king Philip came to the 
throne of Spain ; for the French liberty and freedom being 
introduced amongst the ladies, they have no occasion of strat- 
agems to go abroad when they please : So, as the design of a 
Beata was to have an excuse, on pretence of confession, to go 
out, sublata causa tollitur effectus. 

The Confessor, I said, of a Beata, was sure of his reward; 
for she, watching the living and the dead, useth to gather 
money for masses, from several people, to satisfy her confessor 
for the trouble of hearing her impertinences every day. A 
Beata sometimes makes her confessor believe that many 
things were revealed to her by the Holy Spirit; sometimes 
she pretends to work miracles ; and by such visions, fancies, 
or dreams, the confessors fall into horrible crimes before God 
and the world. 

The following instance, which was published by the inquisitors, will be a tes- 
timony of this truth. I give the real names of the persons in this account, 
because the thing was made public. 

In the city of Saragossa, near the college of St. Thomas of 
Villaneuva, lived Mary Guerrero, married to a taylor; she 

£ 2 



54 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY* 



was handsome, witty, and ambitious : but as the rank of a 
taylor's wife could not make her shine among the quality, 
she undertook the life of a Beata, to be known by it in the 
city. The first step she was to make was to choose a confes- 
sor of good parts, and of good reputation among the nobility ; 
so she pitched upon the reverend Father Fr. Michael Navarro, 
a Dominican Friar, a man who was D. D. and a man univer- 
sally well beloved for his doctrine and good behaviour. But, 
quando Venus vigilat, 3Iinerva dormit. She began to confess 
to him, and in less than a year, by her feigned modesty, and 
hypocritical airs ; and by confessing no sins, but the religious 
exercises of her life ; the reverend father began to publish in 
the city her sanctity to the highest pitch. Many ladies and 
gentlemen of the first rank, desirous to see the new saint, 
sent for her, but she did not appear, but by her maid, gave a 
denial to all. This was a new addition to the fame of her 
sanctity, and a new incitement to the ladies to see her. So 
some, going to visit Father Navarro, desired the favor of him 
to go along with them, and introduce them to the blessed 
Guerrero: But the father, (either bewitched by her, or in ex- 
pectation of a bishoprick, for the making of a saint, or the bet- 
ter to conceal his private designs,) answered, that he could 
not do such a thing; for, knowing her virtue, modesty, and 
aversion to any act of vanity, he should be very much in the 
wrong to give her opportunities of cooling her fervent zeal and 
purity. 

By that means, rich and poor, old and young, men and wo- 
men, began to resort to her neighbor's house, and the Domin- 
ican church, only to see the blessed Guerrero. She shewed a 
great displeasure at these popular demonstrations of respect, 
and resolved to keep close at home ; and after a long consult- 
ation with the Father Navarro, they agreed that she should 
keep her room, and that he would go to confess her, and say 
mass in her rpom, (for the Dominicans, and the four Mendi- 
cant orders, have a privilege for their friars to say Mass, or, 
as they say, to set an altar every where.) To begin this new 
way of living, the father charged her husband to quit the 
house and never appear before his wife; for his sight would 
be a great hindrance to his wife's sanctity and purity; and 
the poor sot believing every thing, went away and took a 
lodging for himself and apprentice. 

They continued this way of living, both she and the Father, 
a whole year; but the fatigue of going every day to say Mass 
and confess the blessed, being too great for the reverend, he 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



55 



asked leave from the reverend father Buenacasa, then prior of 
the convent, to go and live with her as a spiritual guide. The 
prior, foreseeing some great advantage, gave him leave, so he 
went for good and all to be her lodger and master of the 
house. When the father was in the house, he began by de- 
grees to give permission to the people now and then to see the 
blessed, through the glass of a little window, desiring them not 
to make a noise, for fear of disturbing the blessed in her exer- 
cise of devotion: She was in her own room, always upon her 
knees, when some people were to see her through the glass, 
which was in the wall between her room and that of the rev- 
erend. In a few months after, the archbishop went to see her, 
and conversed with her and the father Navarro, who was in 
great friendship with, and much honored by his Grace. This 
example of the prelate put the nobility in mind to do the same. 
The viceroy not being permitted by his royal representation 
to go to her, sent his coach one night for her, and both the fa- 
ther and the blessed had the honor to sup in private with his 
Excellency. This being spread abroad, she was troubled 
with coaches and presents from all sorts and conditions of 
people. Many sick went there in hopes to be healed by her 
sight; and some that happened to go when nature itself was 
upon the crisis, or by the exercise of walking, or by some other 
natural operation, finding themselves better, used to cry out, 
a miracle, a miracle I She wanted nothing but to be carried 
on a pedestal upon the ignorant's shoulders : The fame of 
her sanctity was spread so far, that she was troubled every 
post day with letters from people of quality in other provinces, 
so the reverend was obliged to take a secretary under him, 
and a porter to keep the door ; for they had removed to another 
house of better appearance and more conveniency. Thus 
they continued for the space of two years, and all this while 
the reverend was writing the life of the blessed; and many 
times he was pressed to print part of her life ; but the time of 
the discovery of their wickedness being come, they were ta- 
ken by an order from the holy inquisition. 

The discovery happened thus : Ann Moron, a surgeon's 
wife, who lived next door to the blessed, had a child of ten 
months old * and, as a neighbor, she went to desire the rever- 
end to beg of the blessed to take the child and kiss him, think- 
ing, that by such an holy kiss, her child would be happy 
forever. But the reverend desiring her to go herself and 
make the request to the blessed, she did it accordingly. Mary 
Guerrero took the child, and bid the mother leave him with 



56 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



her for a quarter of an hour. Ann Moron then thought that 
her child was already in heaven ; but when in a quarter of an 
hour after, she came again for the child, the blessed told her, 
that her child was to die the night following, for so God had 
revealed to her in a short prayer she made for the child. The 
child really died the night following, but the surgeon, as a 
tender father, seeing some spots and marks in his child's body, 
opened it, and found in it the cause of its unfortunate death, 
which was a dose of poison. Upon this suspicion of the 
child's being poisoned, and the foretelling of his death by the 
blessed, the father went to the inquisitors, and told the nature of 
the thing. 

Don Pedro Guerrero, the first inquisitor, was then absent; 
so Don Francisco Torrejon, second inquisitor went himself to 
examine the thing, and seeing the child dead, and all the cir- 
cumstances against the blessed, he then ordered that she and 
the reverend, and all their domestic servants, should be 
secured immediately, and sent to the holy inquisition. All 
things were done accordingly, and this sudden and unexpect- 
ed accident made such a noise in town, that every body rea- 
soned in his own way, but nobody dared to speak of the 
inquisitor. At the same time every thing in the house was 
seized upon, with the papers of the reverend, &c. Among 
the papers was found the life of the blessed, written by father 
Navarro's own hand. I said in the beginning that he was 
bewitched, and so many people believed; for it seemed in- 
credible that so learned a man as he was in his own religion, 
should fall into so gross an ignorance as to write such a piece, 
in the method it was found composed; for the manuscript 
contained about six hundred sheets, which by an order of the 
inquisitors, were sent to the qualificators of the holy office, to 
be reviewed by them, and to have their opinions thereupon. 
I shall speak of these qualificators, when I come to treat of 
the inquisitors and their practices. Now it is sufficient to 
say, that all the qualificators, being examinators of the crimes 
committed against the holy catholic faith, examined the sheets, 
and their opinion was, that the book entitled the life of the 
blessed Mary Guerrero, composed by the reverend father Fr. 
Michael Navarro, was scandalous, false, and against revealed 
doctrines in the scripture, and good manners, and that it de- 
served to be burnt in the common yard of the holy offiqe, by 
the mean officer of it. 

After this examination was made, the inquisitors summoned 
two priests out of every parish church, and two friars out of 



MASTER-KEY TO POPES Y. 



m 



every convent, to come such a day to the hall of the holy 
tribunal, to be present at the trial and examinations against 
Mary Guerrero, and Michael Navarro. It was my turn to go 
to that trial for the cathedral church of St. Salvator. We 
went the day appointed, all the summoned priests and friars, 
to the number of one hundred and fifty, besides the inquisitors, 
officers of the inquisition, and qualificators ; these had the 
cross of the holy office before their breasts, which is set upon 
their habits in a very nice manner. The number of qualifi- 
cators I reckoned that day in the hall, were two hundred and 
twenty. When all the summoned were together, and the in- 
quisitors under a canopy of black velvet, (which is placed at 
the right corner of the altar, upon which was an image of the 
crucifix, and six yellow wax candles, without any other light,) 
they made the signal to bring the prisoners to the bar, and 
immediately they came out of the prison, and kneeling down 
before the holy fathers, the secretary began to read the 
articles of the examination, and convictions of their crimes. 

Indeed, both the father and the blessed appeared that day 
very much like saints, if we will believe the Roman's proverb, 
that paleness and thin visage is a sign of sanctity. The 
examination, and the lecture of their crimes was so long, 
that we were summoned three times more upon the same 
trial, in which to the best of my memory, I heard the follow- 
ing articles : 

That by the blessed's confession to Michael Navarro, this 
in the beginning of her life says: 1st. That the blessed crea- 
ture knew no sin since she was born into the world. 2d. She 
has been several times visited by the angels in her closet; and 
Jesus Christ himself has come down thrice to give her new 
heavenly instructions. 3d. She was advised by the divine 
spouse to live separately from her husband. 4th. She was 
once favored with a visit of the holy trinity, and then she 
saw Jesus at the left hand of the Father. 5th. The holy dove 
came afterwards and sat upon her head many times. 6th. 
This holy comforter has foretold her, that her body after death 
shall be always incorruptible ; and that a great king, with the 
news of her death, shall come to honor her sepulchre with 
this motto : " The soul of this warrior* is the glory of my 
kingdom." 7th. Jesus Christ, in a Dominican's habit, ap- 
peared to her at night, and in a celestial dream she was over- 
shadowed by the spirit. 8th. She had taken out of purgatory 

* Guerrero, in Spanish, signifies warrior. 



58 



MA.STER-KEY TO POPERY. 



seven times the soul of her companion's sister. (What folly !•) 
9th. The Pope and the whole church shall rejoice in her 
death ; nay, his holiness shall canonize her, and put her in the 
litany before the apostles, &c. 

After these things, her private miracles were read, &,c, and 
so many passages of her life, that it would be too tedious to 
give an account of them. I only write these to show the stu- 
pidity of the reverend Navarro, who, if he had been in his 
perfect senses, could not have committed so gross an error. — 
(This was the pious people's opinion.) — The truth is, that the 
Blessed was not overshadowed by the spirit, but by her con- 
fessor; for she being at that time with child, and delivered in 
the inquisition, one article against the father was, that he had 
his bed near her bed, and that he was the father of the new 
child, or monster on earth. 

Their sentences were not read in public, and what was 
Iheir end we know not; only we heard that the husband of 
the blessed had notice given him by an officer of the holy 
office, that he was at liberty to marry any other he had a fancy 
for; and by this true account the public may easily know the 
extravagancies of the Romish confessors, who, blinded either 
by their own passions, or by the subtleties of the wicked bea- 
tas ; do commit so great and heinous crimes, &c. 

There is another sort of beatas, whom we call endemonia- 
das, i. e. demoniacs, and by these possessed the confessor gets 
a vast deal of masses. I will tell you, reader, the nature of the 
thing, and by it you will see the cheat of the confessor and 
the demoniac. I said before, that among the beatas there are 
two sorts, young, and of middle age, but all married ; and that 
the young undertake the way of confessing every day, or 
three times a week, to get opportunity of going abroad, and be 
delivered a while from their husbands' jealousies: But many 
husbands being jealous of the flies that come near their wives, 
they scarcely give them leave to go to confess. Observe fur- 
ther, that those women make their husbands believe that out 
of spite, a witch has given them the evil spirit, and they make 
such unusual gestures, both with their faces and mouths, that 
it is enough to make the world laugh only at the sight of them. 
When they are in the fit of the evil spirit they talk blasphe- 
mously against God and his saints ; they beat husbands and 
servants ; they put themselves in such a sweat, that when the 
evil spirit leaves them for a while, (as they say,) they cannot 
stand upon their feet for excessive fatigue. The poor deceiv- 
ed husbands, troubled in mind and body, send for a physician; 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



59 



but this says, he has no remedy for such a distemper, and that 
physic knows no manner of devil, and so, their dealing being 
not with the spirit, but with the body, he sends the husband to 
the spiritual physician ; and by that means they are, out of 
a good design, procurers for their own wives; for really 
they go to the spiritual father, begging his favor and assistance 
to come to exorcise, i. e. to read the prayer of the church, and 
to turn out the evil spirit out of his wife's body. Then the 
father makes him understand, that the thing is very trouble- 
some, and that if the devil is obstinate and positive, he cannot 
leave his wife in three or four nights, and may be, in a month , 
or two; by which he must neglect other business of honor 
and profit. To this the deluded husband promises that his 
trouble shall be well recompensed, and puts a piece of gold in 
his hand, to make him easy; so he pays beforehand for his 
future dishonor. Then the father exorcist goes along with 
him, and as soon as the wife hears the voice of the exorcist, 
she flies into an unmeasurable fury, and cries out, do not let 
that man (meaning the exorcist) come to torment me (as if the 
devil did speak in her and for her.) But he takes the hysop 
with holy water and sprinkles the room. Here the demoniac 
throweth herself on the floor, teareth her clothes and hair, as 
if she was perfectly a mad woman. Then the priest tieth 
the blessed stole, i. e. a sort of scarf they make use of among 
other ornaments to say mass, upon her neck, and begins the 
prayers. Sometimes the devil is very timorous, and leaves 
the creature immediately easy; sometimes he is obstinate, 
and will resist a long while before he obeys the exorcisms of 
the church; but at last he retires himself into his own habita- 
tion, and frees the creature from his torments ; for, they say, 
that the devil or evil spirit, sometimes has his place in the 
head, sometimes in the stomach, sometimes in the liver, &c. 
After the woman is easy for a while, they eat and drink the 
best that can be found in the town. 

A while after, when the husband is to mind his own busi- 
ness, the wife, on pretence that the evil spirit begins again to 
trouble her, goes into her chamber and desireth the father to 
hear her confession. They lock the door after them, and 
what they do for an hour or two, God only knoweth. These 
private confessions and exercises of devotion continue for 
several months together, and the husband loth to go to bed 
with his wife, for fear of the evil spirit, goes to another cham- 
ber, and the father lieth in the same room with his wife on a 
field-bed, to be always ready, when the malignant spirit comes, 



60 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



to exorcise, and beat him with the holy Stola. So deeply 
ignorant are the people in that part of the world, or so great 
bigots, that on pretence of religious remedies to cure their 
wives of the devilish distemper, they contract a worse distem- 
per on their heads and honors, which no physician, either 
spiritual or corporal, can ever cure. 

When in a month or two, the father and the demoniac have 
settled matters between themselves, for the time to come, he 
tells the husband, that the devil is in a great measure tamed, 
by the daily exorcisms of the holy mother, the church, and 
that it is time for him to retire, and mind other business of his 
convent; and that, it being impossible for him to continue lon- 
ger in his house, all he can do, is to serve him and her in his 
convent, if she goes there every day. The husband, with a 
great deal of thanks, pays the father for his trouble, who, tak- 
ing his leave, goes to his community, and gives to the father 
prior two parts of the money (for the third part is allowed to 
him for his own pains.) The day following, in the morning, 
the demoniac is worse than she was before : Then the hus- 
band, out of faith, and the zeal of a good Christian, crieth out, 
the father is gone, and the devil is loose : The exorcisms of 
the church are not ready at hand, and the evil spirit thinks 
himself at liberty, and begins to trouble the poor creature : Let 
us send her to the convent, and the bold, malignant spirit shall 
pay dear there for this new attempt. So the wife goes to the 
father, and the father takes her into a little room, next to the 
vestry, (a place to receive their acquaintance, only of the fe- 
male sex,) and there, both in private, the father appeases the 
devil, and the woman goes quiet and easy to her house, where 
she continues in the same easiness till the next morning. 
Then the devil begins to trouble her again ; and the husband 
says, O obstinate spirit! You make all this noise because the 
hour of being beaten with the holy stola is near : I know that 
your spite and malice against the exorcisms of the church is 
great; but the power of them is greater than thine: Go, go to 
the father, and go through all the lashes of the stola. So the 
woman goes again to the father, and in this manner of life 
they continue for a long while. 

There is of these beatas, in every convent church, not a 
few; for sometimes, one of these exorcists keeps six, and some- 
times ten, by whom, and their husbands, he is very well paid 
for the trouble of confessing them every day, and for taming 
the devil. But the most pleasant thing among those demoni- 
acs is, that they have different devils that trouble them; for, 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Gl 



by a strict commandment of the father, they are forced to tell 
their names, so one is called Belzebub, another Lucifer, &c. : 
And those devils are very jealous, one of another. I saw seve- 
ral times, in the body of the church, a battle among three of 
those demoniacs, on pretence of being in the fit of the evil 
spirit, threatening and beating one another, and calling one 
another nicknames, till the father came with the hysop, holy 
water and the stola, to appease them, and bid them to be si- 
lent, and not to make such a noise in the house of the Lord. 
And the whole matter was, (as we knew afterwards,) that the 
father exorcist was more careful of one than the others; and 
jealousy (which is the worse devil) getting into their heads, 
they give it to their respective devils, who, with an infernal 
fury, fought one against another, out of pet and revenge for 
the sake of their lodging-room. 

In the city Huesca, where (as they believe) Pontius Pilate 
was professor of law in the university, and his chair, or part 
of it, is kept in the bishop's palace for a show, and a piece of 
antiquity, (and which I saw myself,) I say, I saw, and conver- 
sed both with the father exorcist and the beata demoniac 
about the following instance : 

The thing not being publicly divulged, but among a few 
persons, I will give an account of it under the names of father 
John and Dorothea. This Dorothea, when 13 years old, was 
married, against her inclinations, to a tradesman 50 years old. 
The beauty of Dorothea, and the ugliness of her husband, 
were very much, the one admired, and the other observed by 
all the inhabitants of the city. The bishop's secretary made 
the match, and read the ceremony of the church, for he was 
the only executor of her father's will and testament. She 
was known by the name of Young dancing eyes. Her hus- 
band was jealous of her, in the highest degree: She could not 
go out without him; and so she suffered this torment for the 
space of three years. She had an aversion, and a great an- 
tipathy against him. Her confessor was a young, well-shaped 
friar; and whether out of her own contrivance, or by the 
friar's advice, one day, unexpected by her husband, the devil 
was detected and manifested in her. What affliction this was 
to the old, amorous, jealous husband, is inexpressible. The 
poor man went himself to the jesuit's college, next to his 
house, for an exorcist, but the jesuit could do nothing to ap- 
pease that devil, to the great surprise of the poor husband, and 
many others too, who believe, that a jesuit can command and 
F 



62 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



overcome the devil himself, and that the devils are more 
afraid of a jesuit, than of their sovereign prince in hell. 

The poor husband sent for many others, but the effect did 
not answer the purpose ; till at last her own confessor came 
to her, and after many exorcisms and private prayers, she 
was (or the devil in her) pacified for a while. This was a 
testimony of the father John's fervent, zeal and virtue to the 
husband ; so they settled how the case was to be managed for 
the future. Friar John was very well recompensed upon the 
bargain ; and both the demoniac and friar John continued in 
daily battle with the evil spirit for two years together. The 
husband began to sleep quiet and easy, thinking that his wife, 
having the devil in her body, was not able to be unfaithful to 
him ; for while the malignant torments the body, the woman 
begins to fast in public, and eat in private with the exorcist; 
and the exercises of such demoniacs are all of prayers and 
devotions; so the deceived husband believes it is better to 
have a demoniac wife, than one free from the evil spirit. 

The exorcisms of friar John, (being to appease not a spir- 
itual, but a material devil,) he and Dorothea were both dis- 
covered, and found in the fact, by a friar in the same convent, 
who, by many presents from friar John and Dorothea, did not 
reveal the thing to the prior, but he told it to some of his 
friends, which were enemies to friar John, from whom I heard 
the story. For my part, I did not believe it for a while, till at 
last, I knew, that the friar John was removed into another con- 
vent, and that Dorothea left her house and husband, and went 
after him ; though the husband endeavored to spread abroad, 
that the devil had stolen his wife. These are the effects of the 
practices of the demoniacs and exorcists. 

]\ T ow I come to the persons of public authority, either in ecclesiastical, civil, 
or military affairs, and to the ladies of the first quality or rank in the world. 
As to those, I must beg leave to tell the truth, as well as of the inferior 
people. But, because the confessors of such persons are most commonly 
all Jesuits, it seems very apropos to give a description of those Fathers, their 
practices and lives, and to write of them, what I know to be the matter of 
fact. 

Almost in all the Roman-Catholic countries, the Jesuit 
fathers are the teachers of the Latin tongue, and to this pur- 
pose they have in every college, (so they call their convents) 
four large rooms, which are called the four classes for the 
grammar. There is one teacher in each of them. The city 
corporation, or political body, paying the rector of the Jesuits 



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63 



So much a yearj and the young gentlemen are at no expense 
at all for learning the Latin tongue. The scholars lodge in 
town, and they go every day, from eight in the morning till 
eleven, to the college; and when the clock strikes eleven, 
they go along with the four teachers to hear mass : They go 
at two in the afternoon, till half after four, and so they do all 
the year long, except the holidays, and the vacations from 
the fifteenth of August till the ninth of September. As the 
four teachers receive nothing for their trouble, because the 
payment of the city goes to the community, they have con- 
trived how to be recompensed for their labor : There were 
in the college of Saragossa, when I learned Latin, very near 
six hundred scholars, noblemen, and tradesmen's sons; every 
one was to pay every Saturday a real of plate for the rule (as 
they call it.) There is a custom, to have a public literal act 
once every day, to which are invited the young gentlemen's 
parents, but none of the common people. The father rector 
and all the community are present, and placed in their velvet 
chairs. To the splendid performance of this act, the four 
teachers chuse twelve gentlemen, and each of them is to make, 
by heart, a Latin speech in the pulpit. They chuse besides 
the twelve, one emperor, two kings, and two pretors, which 
are always the most noble of the young gentlemen : They 
wear crowns on their heads that day, which is the distinguish- 
ing character of their learning. The emperor sits under a 
canopy, the pretors on each side, and the kings a step lower, 
and the twelve senators in two lines next to the throne. This 
act lasts three hours ; and after all is over, the teachers and 
the father rector invite the nobility and the emperor, with 
the pretors, kings and senators, to go to the common hall of 
the college, to take refreshment of the most nice sweetmeats 
and best liquor. The fathers of the emperor, kings, pretors, 
and senators, are to pay for all the charges and expenses, 
which are fixed to be a hundred pistoles every month. And 
every time there are new emperors or kings, &c. by moderate 
computation, we were sure, that out of the remainder of the 
hundred pistoles a month, and a real of plate every week from 
each of the scholars, the four father teachers had clear, to 
be divided among themselves every year, sixteen hundred 
pistoles. 

We must own that the jesuits are very fit, and the most proper 
persons for the education of youth, and that all these exercises 
and public acts (though for their interests) are great stimula- 
tions and incitements to learning in young gentlemen; for one 



64 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



of them will study night and day only to get the empty title of 
emperor, &c. once in a month; and their parents are very 
glad to expend eight pistoles a year to encourage their sons ; 
and besides that, they believe, that they are under a great obli- 
gation to the Jesuits' college, and the jesuits knowing their 
tempers, become, not only acquainted with them, but absolute 
masters of their houses : I must own, likewise, that I never 
heard of any jesuit father, any thing against good manners or 
Christian conversation; for really, they behave themselves, 
as to outward appearance, with so great civility, modesty, and 
policy, that nobody has any thing to say against their deport- 
ment in the world, except self-interest and ambition. 

And really, the Jesuits' order is the richest of all the orders 
in Christendom; and because the reason of it is not well known, 
I will now tell the ways by which they gather together so great 
treasures every where. As they are universally teachers of 
the Latin tongue, and have this opportunity to know the youth, 
they pitch upon the most ingenious young men, and upon the 
richest of all, though they be not very witty; they spare 
neither time, nor persuasions, nor presents, to persuade them 
to be of the society of Jesus (so they name their order) : the 
poor and ingenious are very glad of it, and the noble and rich 
too, thinking to be great men upon account of their quality : 
so their colleges are composed of witty and noble people. By 
the noble gentlemen they get riches ; by the witty and ingeni- 
ous they support their learning, and breed up teachers and 
great men to govern the consciences of princes, people of 
public authority, and ladies of the first rank. 

They do not receive ladies in private in their colleges, but 
always in the middle of the church or chapel; they never sit 
down to hear them. They do not receive charity for masses, 
nor bea.tas, nor demoniacs in their church, (I never saw one 
there) their modesty and civil manners charm every one that 
speaks with them; though I believe, all that is to carry on their 
private end and interests. They are indefatigable in the pro- 
curing the good of souls, and sending missionaries to catechise 
the children in the country ; and they have fit persons in every 
college for all sorts of exercises, either of devotion, of law, or 
policy, &c. They entertain nobody within the gate of the 
college, so nobody knows what they do among themselves. 
If it sometimes happens that one doth not answer their expect- 
ation, after he has taken the habit, they turn him out; for they 
have fourteen years trial : but as soon as they turn him out, 
they underhand procure a handsome settlement for him ; so 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



65 



that he who is expelled dares not say any thing against them, 
for fear of losing his bread. And if, after he is out, he behaves 
himself well, and gets some riches, he is sure to die a jesuit. 

I heard of Don Pedro Segovia, who had been a jesuit, but 
w T as turned out,but by the jesuits' influence, he got a prebenda- 
ry in the cathedral church, and was an eminent preacher. He 
was afterwards constantly visited by them, and when he came 
to die, he asked again the habit, and being granted to him, he 
died a jesuit, and by his death the jesuits became heirs of 
twenty thousand pistoles in money and lands. 

There are confessors of kings and princes, of ministers of 
state, and generals, and of all the people of distinction and 
estates. So it is no wonder if they are masters of the tenth 
part of the riches in every kingdom, and if God doth not put 
a stop to their covetousness, it is to be feared, that one way or 
other, they will become masters of all, for they do not seek 
dignities, being prohibited by the constitutions of their order, 
to be bishops and popes ; it is only allowed to them to be car- 
dinals, to govern the pope by that means, as well as to rule 
emperors, kings, and princes. At this present time all the 
sovereigns of Europe have jesuits for their confessors. 

Now it is high time to come to say something as to their 
practices in confessions ; and I will only speak of those I knew 
particularly well. 

First, The reverend father Navasques, professor of divinity 
in their college, was chosen confessor of the countess of Fuen- 
tes, who was left a widow at twenty-four years of age. This 
lady, as well as other persons of quality, kept a coach and 
servant for the father confessor. He has always a father 
companion to say mass to the lady. She allows so much a 
year to the college, and so much to her confessor and his com- 
panion. All persons have an oratory or chapel in their 
houses, by dispensation from the pope, for which they pay a 
great deal of money. Their way of living is thus, in the 
morning they send the coach and servant to the college, most 
commonly at eleven of the clock : the father goes every day at 
that time, and the lords and ladies do not confess every day ; 
they have mass said at home, and after mass, the reverend 
stays in the lady's company till dinner-time : then he goes to 
the college till six in the evening, and at six goes again to see 
the lady or lord, till eleven. What are their discourses I do 
not know. This I know, that nothing is done in the family 
without the reverend's advice and approbation. So it was 



66 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



with the countess' family, and when she died, the college got 
four thousand pistoles a year from her. 

The reverend father Muniessa, confessor of the duchess of 
Villahermosa, in the same manner got at her death thirty 
thousand pistoles, and the reverend father Aranda, confessor 
to the countess of Aranda, got two thousand pistoles yearly 
rent from her, all for the college. Now what means they make 
use of to bewitch the people and to suck their substance, every 
body may think, but no body may guess at. An ingenious 
politician was asked how the jesuits could be rightly described 
and defined, and he gave this definition of them. Amici 
frigidi, and inimici calidi, i. e. cold friends and warm ene- 
mies. And this is all I can write concerning their manners 
and practices. 

Before I dismiss this subject, I cannot pass by one instance 
more, touching the practices of confessors in general, and that 
is, that since I came to these northern countries, I have been 
told by gentlemen of good sense, and serious in their conversa- 
tion, that many priests and friars were procurers (when they 
were in those parts of the world) and shewed them the way 
of falling into the common sin. It is no doubt they know all 
the lewd women by auricular confession, but I could not believe 
they would be so villanous and base, as to make a show of 
their wickedness before strangers. This I must say in vindi- 
cation of a great many of them (for what I write is only of the 
wicked ones,) that they are many times engaged in intrigues 
unknown to themselves, and they are not to be blamed, but 
only the persons that with false insinuations, make them be- 
lieve a lie for a truth, and this under a pretence of devotion. 
To clear this I will tell a story, which was told me by a colonel 
in the English service, who lives at present in London. 

He said to me that an officer, a friend of his, was a prisoner 
in Spain : his lodgings were opposite to a counsellor's house. 
The counsellor was old and jealous, the lady young, handsome,, 
and confined, and the officer well shaped and very fair. The 
windows and balconies of the counsellor were covered with 
narrow lattices, and the officer never saw any woman of that 
house. But the lady, who had several times seen him at his 
window, could not long conceal her love ; so she sent for her 
father confessor, and spoke with him in the following manner: 
My reverend father, you are my spiritual guide, and you must 
prevent the ruin of my soul, reputation, and quietness of my 
life. Over the way, said she, lives an English officer, who is 
constantly at the window, making signs and demonstrations of 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



67 



love to me, and though I endeavor not to haunt my balcony,, for 
fear of being found out by my spouse ; my waiting maid tells 
me that he is always there. You know my spouse's temper 
and jealousy, and if he observes the least thing in the world, I 
am undone forever. So to put a timely stop to this, I wish you 
would be so kind as to go over and desire him to make no more 
signs ; and that if he is a gentleman, as he seems to be, he will 
never do any thing to disquiet a gentlewoman. The credu- 
lous confessor, believing every syllable, went over to the Eng- 
lish officer, and told him the message, asking his pardon for 
the liberty he took; but that he could not help it, being as he 
was the lady's confessor. 

The officer, who was of a very fiery temper, answered him 
in a resolute manner. Hear, friar, said he to the confessor, 
go your way, and never come to me with such false stories, 
for I do not know what you say, nor I never saw any lady over 
the way. The poor father, full of shame and fear, took his 
leave, and went to deliver the answer to the lady. What, said 
she, doth he deny the truth ? I hope God will prove my inno- 
cence before you, and that before two days. The father did 
comfort her, and went to his convent. The lady seeing her 
designs frustrated this way^ did contrive another to let the 
officer know her inclination. So one of her servants wrote a 
letter to her in the officer's name, with many lovely ex- 
pressions, and desiring her to be in her garden at eight in the 
dark evening, under a figtree next to the walls. And recom- 
mending to her servant the secret, sealed the letter directed 
to her. Two days after, she sent for her confessor again, and 
told him, Now my reverend father, God has put a letter, from 
the officer,' into my hands to convince him and you of the truth. 
Pray take the letter and go to him, and if he denies, as he did 
before, show him his own letter, and I hope he will not be so 
bold as to trouble me anymore. He did accordingly, and the 
English gentleman answered as the first time; and as he 
flew into a passion, the father told him, Sir, see this letter, and 
answer me : which the officer reading, soon understood the 
meaning, and said, Now, my good father, I must own my fol- 
ly, for I cannot deny my handwriting, and to assure you, 
and the lady, that I shall be quite a different man for the fu- 
ture, pray tell her that I will obey her commands, and that I 
will never do any thing against her orders. The confessor ? 
very glad of so unexpected good success, as he thought, gave 
the answer to the lady, adding to it, Now, madam, you may be 
quiet, and without any fear, for he will obey you. Did not I 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



tell you, said she, that he could not deny the fact of the letter? 
So the confessor went home, having a very good opinion of the 
lady, and the English officer too,, who did not fail to go to the 
rendezvous, &,c. 

Every serious, religious man, will rather blame the wicked 
lady, than the confessor: for the poor man, though he was a 
procurer and instrument of bringing that intrigue to an effect, 
really he was innocent all the while ; and how could he sus- 
pect any thing of wantonness in a lady so devoutly affected, 
and so watchful of the ruin of her soul, honor, and quietness 
of her life ? We must excuse them in such a case as this was, 
and say, That many and many confessors, if they are procur- 
ers, they do it unknown to themselves, and out of pure zeal 
for the good of the souls, or to prevent many disturbances in a 
family : But as for those that, out of wickedness, busy them- 
selves in so base and villanous exercises, I say, heaven and 
earth ought to rise in judgment against them. They do de- 
serve to be punished in this world, that, by their example, the 
same exercise might be prevented in others. 

I have given an account of some private confessions of 
both sexes, and of the most secret practices of some of the 
Roman-Catholic priests, according to what I promised the pub- 
lic in my printed proposals. And from all that is written and 
said, I crave leave to draw some few inferences. 

First, I say, that the pope and councils are the original 
causes of the aforesaid misdoings and ill practices of the 
Romish priests. Marriage being forbidden to a priest, not by 
any commandment of God or divine scripture, but by a strict 
ordinance from the pope, an indisputable canon of the council. 
This was not practised by them for many centuries after the 
death of our saviour; and the priests were then more reli- 
gious and exemplary than they are now. I know the reasons 
their church has for it, which I will not contradict, to avoid all 
sort of controversy: But this I may say, that if the priests, 
friars and nuns were at lawful liberty to marry, they would 
be better Christians, the people richer in honor and estates, 
the kingdom better peopled, the king stronger, and the Romish 
religion more free from foreign attempts and calumnies. 

They do make a vow of chastity, and they break it by 
living loose, lewd, and irregular lives. They do vow poverty, 
and their thirst for riches is unquenchable ; and whatever they 
get, is most commonly by unlawful means. They swear 
obedience, and they only obey their lusts, passions and in- 
clination. How many sins are occasioned by binding them- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



69 



selves with these three vows in a monastical life, it is inex- 
pressible : And all, or the greater number of sins committed 
by them, would be hindered, if the pope and council were to 
imitate the right foundations of the primitive church, and the 
apostles of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

As to particular persons, among the priests and friars, 
touching their corruptions and ill practices in auricular con- 
fession, I say, they do act against divine and human law in 
such practice, and are guilty of several sins, especially sacri- 
lege and robbery. It is true, the Moral Summs are defec- 
tive in the instruction of confessors, as opinions, grounded in 
the erroneous principles of their church : But as to the settled 
rules for the guiding and advising the penitent, what he ought 
to do, to walk uprightly, they are not defective ; so the con- 
fessors cannot plead ignorance for so doing, and consequently 
the means they make use of in the tribunal of conscience, 
are all sinful, being only to deceive and cheat the poor, ignor- 
ant people. 

Their practices then, are against divine and human law, 
contrary to the holy scriptures, nay, to humanity itself: For, 
Thou that teachest another, thou shalt not kill, nor commit adul- 
tery, nor steal, nor covet thy neighbors goods, nor wife: Dost 
thou all those things 1 And to insist only on sacrilege and 
robbery. What can it be but robbery, and sacrilege, to sell 
absolution, or, which is the same thing, to refuse it to the pen- 
itent, if he does not give so much money for masses ? 

This may be cleared by their own principles, and by the 
opinions of their casuistical authors, who agree in this, viz. : 
That there are three sorts of sacrilege, or a sacrilege which 
may be committed three different ways. These are the ex- 
pressions they make use of: Sacrum in sacro: Sacrum ex 
sacro: Sacrum pro sacro. That is, to take a sacred thing for 
a sacred thing, a sacred thing in a sacred place ; and a sacred 
thing out of a sacred place. All these are robbery and sacri- 
lege together, according to their opinions ; and I said that the 
confessors in their practices are guilty of all three ; for in their 
opinion, the holy tribunal of conscience is a sacred thing; 
the absolution and consecrated church are sacred likewise. 
As for the money given for the relief of the souls in purgato- 
ry, Corella, in his Moral Sum, says, that that is a sacred 
thing too. Now it is certain among them, that no priest can 
receive money for absolution, directly nor indirectly. Those 
then that take it, rob that money which is unlawfully taken 
from the penitent; and it is a sacrilege too, because they take 



70 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



a sacred thing for a sacred thing, viz. : the sacred money foi? 
masses taken for absolution. They take that sacred thing 
in a sacred place, viz. : in the sacred tribunal of conscience : 
and they take a sacred thing out of a sacred place, viz. : the 
church. 

Again: Though most commonly, Quodcumque ligaveris 
super terram; erit ligatum et in calis, is understood by them 
literally, and the pope usurps the power of absolving men 
without contrition, provided they have attrition, or only con- 
fession by mouth, as we shall see in the following chapter of 
the pope's bull. Nevertheless the casuists, when they come 
to treat of a perfect confession under the sacrament of pen- 
ance, they unanimously say, that three things are absolutely 
necessary to a perfect confession, and to salvation too, viz. : 
Oris confessio, cordis contritio, and operis satisf actio. Though 
at the same time they say, except in case of pontifical dispen- 
sation with faculties, privileges, indulgences, and pardon of 
all sins committed by a man : But though they except this 
case, I am sure they do it out of obedience, and flattery, 
rather than their own belief. If they then believe, that with- 
out contrition of heart, the absolution is of no effect, why do 
they persuade the contrary to the penitent? Why do they 
take money for absolution? It is, then, a cheat, robbery, and 
sacrilege. 

Secondly. I say, that the confessors [generally speaking] 
are the occasion of the ruin of many families, of many thefts, 
debaucheries, murders, and divisions among several families 
[for which they must answer before that dreadful tribunal of 
God, when and where all the secret practices and wickedness 
shall be disclosed] ; add to this, that by auricular confession, 
they are acquainted with the tempers and inclinations of peo- 
ple, which contribute very much to heap up riches, and to make 
themselves commanding masters of all sorts of persons; for 
when a confessor is thoroughly acquainted with a man's tem- 
per and natural inclinations, it is the most easy thing in the 
world to bring him to his own opinion, and to be master over 
him and his substance. 

That the confessors, commonly speaking, are the occasion 
of all the aforesaid mischiefs, will appear by the following 
observations : 

First, They get the best estates from the rich people, for 
the use and benefit of their communities, by which many and 
many private persons, and whole familes, are reduced and 
ruined Observe now their practices as to the sick. If a 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



71 



nobleman of a good estate be very ill, the confessor must be 
by him night and day ; and when he goes to sleep, his com- 
panion supplies his place, to direct, and exhort the sick to die 
as a good christian, and to advise him how to make his last 
will and testament. If the confessor is a down-right honest 
man, he must betray his principles of honesty, or disoblige 
his superior, and all the community, by getting nothing from 
the sick ; so he chargeth upon the poor man's conscience, to 
leave his convent thousands of masses, for the speedy delivery 
of his soul out of purgatory; and besides that, to settle a yearly 
mass forever upon the convent, and to leave a voluntary gift, 
that the friars may remember him in their public and private 
prayers, as a benefactor of that community : And in these and 
other legacies and charities, three parts of his estate go to 
the church, or convents. But if the confessor have a large 
conscience, then without any christian consideration for the 
sick man's family and poor relations, he makes use of all the 
means an inhuman, covetous man can invent, to get the whole 
estate for his convent. And this is the reason why they are 
so rich, and so many families so poor, reduced, and ruined. 

From these we may infer thefts, murders, debaucheries, 
and divisions of families. I say, the confessors are the ori- 
ginal causes of all these ill consequences; for when they take 
the best of estates for themselves, no wonder if private per- 
sons and whole families are left in such want, and necessity, 
that they abandon themselves to all sorts of sins, and hazards 
of losing both lives and honors, rather than to abate something 
of their pride. 

I might prove this by several instances, which I do not 
question, are very well known by several curious people : and 
though some malicious persons are apt to suspect that such 
instances are mere dreams, or forgeries of envious people ; for 
my part I believe, that many confessors are the original cause 
of the aforesaid evils, as may be seen by the following matter 
of fact: 

In the account of the jesuits and their practices, I said that 
the reverend Navasques was the confessor of the countess of 
Fuentes, who was left a widow at twenty- four years of age, 
and never married again : for the reverend's care is to advise 
them to live a single life. (Purity being the first step to 
heaven.) The lady countess had no children, and had an 
estate of her own, of 4000 pistoles a year, besides her jewels 
and household goods, which, after her death, were valued at 
15,000 pistoles. All these things and her personal estate, 



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MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



were left to the jesuits' college, though she had many near re- 
lations, among whom I knew two young gentlemen, second 
cousins of her ladyship, and two young ladies kept in the 
house as her cousins too. She had promised to give them a 
settlement suitable to their quality and merits : which promise 
the father confessor confirmed to them several times. But the 
lady died, and both the young ladies and the two gentlemen 
were left under the providence of God, for the countess had 
forgotten them in her last will ; and the father confessor took 
no notice of them afterward. The two young ladies abandon- 
ed themselves to all manner of private pleasures at first, and 
at last to public wickedness. As to the young gentlemen, in 
a few months after the lady's death, one left the city and went 
to serve the king, as a cadet: the other following a licentious 
life, was ready to finish his days with shame and dishonor 
upon a public scaffold, had not the goodness and compassion 
of the marquis of Camarrassa, then vice-roy of Aragon, pre- 
vented it. Now, whether the father confessor shall be an- 
swerable before God, for all the sins committed by the young 
ladies, and one of the gentlemen, for want of what they ex- 
pected from the countess, or not? God only knows. We may 
think and believe, that if the lady had provided for them ac- 
cording to their condition in the world, in all human probabil- 
ity they had not committed such sins. Or if the college, or 
the reverend father had been more charitable, and compas- 
sionate to the condition they were left in, they had put a time- 
ly stop to their wickedness. 

Thirdly. I say that confessors and preachers are the occa- 
sion, that many thousands of young men and women choose a 
single, retired life, in a monastery or convent ; and therefore 
are the cause of many families being extinguished, and their 
own treasure exceedingly increased. 

If a gentleman have two or three sons, and as many daugh- 
ters, the confessor of the family adviseth the father to keep the 
eldest son at home, and send the rest, both sons and daughters, 
into a convent or monastery ; praising the monastical life, and 
saying, that to be retired from the world, is the safest way to 
heaven. There is a proverb which runs thus in English: It 
is better to be alone, than in bad company. And the confessors 
alter it thus: It is better to be alone, than in good company; 
which they pretend to prove with so many sophistical argu- 
ments, nay, with a passage from the scripture ; and this not 
only in private conversation, but publicly in the pulpit. I re- 
member, I heard my celebrated Mr. F. James Garcia preach 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



73 



a sermon upon the subject of a retired life and solitude, which 
sermon and others preached by him in lent, in the cathedral 
church of St. Salvator, were printed afterwards. The book 
is in folio, and its title Quadragesima de Gracia. He was the 
first preacher I heard make use of the above proverb, and alter 
it in the aforesaid way; and to prove the sense of his altera- 
tion he said : Remember the woman in the apocalypsis, that ran 
from heaven into the desert. What ! was not that woman in 
heaven, in the company of the stars and planets, by which are 
represented all the heavenly spirits ? Why then quits she that 
good company, and chooses to be alone in a desert place ? 
Because, said he, that woman is the holy soul, and for a soul 
that desireth to be holy, it is better to be alone than in good 
company. In the desert, in the convent, in the monastery, 
the soul is safe, free from sundry temptations of the world; and 
so it belongs to a christian soul, not only to run from bad 
company, but to quit the best company in the world and retire 
into the desert of a convent, or monastery, if that soul desire 
to be holy and pure ; this was his proof, and if he had not been 
my master, I would have been bold to make some reflections 
upon it. But the respect of a disciple, beloved by him, is 
enough to make me silent, and leave to the reader the satis- 
faction of reflecting in his own way, 'to which I heartily 
submit. 

These, I say, are the advices the confessors give to the 
fathers of families, who, glad of lessening the expenses of the 
house, and of seeing their children provided for, send them 
into the desert place of a convent, which is really in the mid- 
dle of the world. Now observe, that it is twenty to one, that 
their heir dies before he marries and has children : so the es- 
tate and every thing else falls to the second, who is a profess- 
ed friar or nun, and as they cannot use the expression of meum 
or tuum, all goes that way to the community. And this is the 
reason why many families are extinguished, and their names 
quite out of memory : the convent so crowded, the kingdom 
so thin of people ; and the friars, nuns, and monasteries so 
rich. 

Fourthly. I say that the confessors, priests, and especially 
friars, make good this saying among the common people : 
Frayle o fraude es todo uno: i. e. friar or fraud is the same 
thing ; for they not only defraud whole families, but make use 
of barbarous, inhuman means to get the estates of many rich 
persons. 

The Marquis of Arino had one only daughter, and his sec- 
G 



74 



MASTER-KEY TO POPEKY. 



ond brother was an Augustan friar, under whose care the 
marquis left his daughter when he died. She was fifteen years 
of age, rich and handsome. Her uncle and executor was at 
that time doctor and professor of divinity in the university, 
and prior of the convent, and could not personally take care 
of his niece and her family; so he desired one of her aunts to 
go and live with her, and sent another friar to be like a stew- 
ard and overseer of the house. The uncle was a good honest 
man and mighty religious. He minded more his office of prior, 
his study and exercises of devotion, than the riches, pomp, 
magnificence and vanity of the world ; so, seeing that the dis- 
charge of his duty and that of an executor of his niece were 
inconsistent together, he did resolve to marry her; which he 
did to the baron Suelves, a young, handsome, healthy, rich 
gentleman ; but he died • seven months after his marriage, so 
the good uncle was again at the same trouble and care of his 
niece, who was left a widow, but without children. After the 
year of her mourning was expired, she was married to the 
great president of the council, who was afterwards great 
chancellor of the kingdom, but he died, leaving no children. 
The first and second husband left all their estates to her; and 
she was reckoned to have eighty thousand pistoles in yearly 
rent and goods. A year after, Don Pedro Carillo, brigadier- 
general, and general governor of the kingdom, married her, 
but has no children by her. I left both the governor and the 
lady alive, when I quitted the country. Now I come to the 
point. It was specified in all the matches between the gen- 
tlemen and the lady, that if they had no issue by her, all the 
estate and goods should fall to the uncle as a second brother 
of her father ; and so ex necessitate the convent should be for 
ever the only enjoyer of it. It was found out, but too late, 
that the friar steward, before she first married, had given her 
a dose to make her a barren woman ; and though nobody did 
believe that the uncle had any hand in it, (so great an opin- 
ion the world and the lady's husband had of him,) every bo- 
dy did suspect at first the friar steward, and so it was confirm- 
ed at last by his own confession; for being at the point of 
death, he owned the fact publicly and his design in it. 

Another instance. A lady of the first rank, of eighteen 
years of age, the only heiress of a considerable estate, was 
kept by her parents at a distance from all sorts of company, 
except only that of the confessor of the family, who was a learn- 
ed and devout man : but as these reverends have always a 
father companion to assist them at home and abroad, many 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



75 



times the mischief is contrived and effected unknown to the 
confessor, by his wicked companion ; so it happened in this 
instance. The fame of the wonderful beauty of this young 
lady was spread so far abroad, that the king and queen being 
in the city for eight months together, and not seeing the cele- 
brated beauty at their court, her majesty asked her father one 
day, whether he had any children 1 And when he answered, 
that he had only one daughter, he was desired by the queen 
to bring her along with him to court, the next day, for she had 
a great desire to see her beauty so much admired at home and 
abroad. The father could not refuse it, and so the next day 
the lady did appear at court, and was so much admired that a 
grandee (who had then the command of the army, though not 
of his own passions) said, this is the first time I see the sun 
among the stars. The grandee began to covet that inestima- 
ble jewel, and his heart burning in the agreeable flame of her 
eyes, he went to see her father, but could not see the daugh- 
ter. At last, all his endeavors being in vain, for he was mar- 
ried, he sent for the confessor's companion, whose interest and 
mediation he got by money and fair promises of raising him 
to an ecclesiastical dignity; so by that means he sent a letter 
to the lady, who read it, and in very few days he got her con- 
sent to disguise himself and come to see her along with the fa- 
ther companion; so one evening in the dark, putting on a 
friar's habit, he went to her chamber, where he was always in 
company with the companion friar, who by crafty persuasions 
made the lady understand, that if she did not consent to every 
thing that the grandee should desire, her life and reputation 
were lost, &,c. In the same disguise they saw one another 
several times to the grandee's satisfaction, and her grief and 
vexation. 

But the court being gone, the young lady began to suspect 
some public proof of her intrigue, till then secret, and con- 
sulting the father companion upon it, he did what he could to 
prevent it, but in vain. The misfortune was suspected, and 
owned by her to her parents. The father died of very grief 
in eight days time : and the mother went into the country with 
her daughter, till she was free from her disease, and after- 
wards, both ladies, mother and daughter, retired into a monas- 
tery, where I knew and conversed several times with them. 
The gentleman had made his will long before, by which the 
convent was to get the estate in case the lady should die with- 
out children ; and as she had taken the habit of a nun, and pro- 
fessed the vows of religion, the prior was so ambitious that he 



76 



MASTER-KEY TO FOPEKY. 



asked the estate, alleging, that she, being a professed mm,, 
could have no children g to which the lady replied, that she 
was obliged to obey her father's will, by which she was mis- 
tress of the estate during her life ; adding that it was better 
for the father prior not to insist on his demand ; for she was 
ruined in her reputation by the wickedness of one of his friars, 
and that she, if pressed, would shew her own child, who was 
the only heir of her father's estate. But the prior, deaf to 
her threatenings, did carry on his pretensions, and by an 
agreement, (not to make the thing more public than it was, 
for very few knew the true story,) the prior got the estate, 
obliging the convent to give the lady and her mother, during 
their lives, 400 pistoles every year, the whole estate being 
5000 yearly rent. 

I could give several more instances of this nature to con- 
vince that the confessors, priests, and friars are the fundamen- 
tal original cause of almost all the misdoings and mischiefs 
that happen in the families. By the instances already given 
every body may easily know the secret practices of some of 
the Romish priests, which are an abomination to the Lord, es- 
pecially in the holy tribunal of confession. So I may conclude 
and dismiss this first chapter, saying, that the confession is 
the mint of friars and priests, the sins of the penitent the 
metals, the absolution the coin of money, and the confessors 
the keepers of it. Now the reader may draw from these ac- 
counts as many inferences as he pleases, till, God willing, I 
furnish him with new arguments, and instances, of their evil 
practices in the second part of this work. 



PART II. 



This is a true copy of the Pope's Bull out of Spanish, in the translation of 
which into English, I am tied up to the letter, almost word for word, and 
this is to prevent (as to this point) all calumny and objection, which may 
be made against it, by some critic among the Roman-Catholic6. 

MDCCXVIII. 

Bull of the holy crusade, granted by the holiness of our 
most holy father Clement, the Xlth, to the kingdoms of Spain, 
and the isles to them pertaining, in favor of all them, that 
should help and serve the king Dn. Philip V. our lord, in the 
war and expenses of it, which he doth make against the ene- 
mies of our catholic faith, with great indulgences and pardons, 
for the year one thousand seven hundred and eighteen. 

The prophet Joel, sorry for the damages which the sons of 
Israel did endure by the invasion of the Chaldean armies, 
(zealous for and desirous of their defence, after having recom- 
mended to them the observance of the law) calling the sol- 
diers to the war, saith: That he saw, for the comfort of all, a 
mystical spring come out from God and his house, which did 
water and wash away the sins of that people. Chap. 3, v. 18. 

Seeing then our most holy father, Clement XI, (who at this 
day doth rule, and govern the holy apostolical see) for the 
zeal of the catholic king of the Spains, Dn. Philip, the Vth, for 
the defence of our holy faith, and for that purpose gathereth 
together, and maintaineth his armies against all the enemies 
of Christianity, to help him in his holy enterprise, doth grant 
him this bull, by which his holiness openeth the springs of the 
blood of Christ, and the treasure of his inestimable merits ; 
and with it encourageth all the christians to the assistance of 
this undertaking. For this purpose, and that they might enjoy 
this benefit,- he orders to be published the following indulgen- 
ces, graces, and faculties, or privileges. 

1. His holiness doth grant to all the true christians of the 
said kingdoms and dominions, dwellers, and settled, and inhab- 
itants in them, and to all comers to them, or should be found in 
them ; who, moved with the zeal of promoting the holy catho- 
lic faith, should go personally, and upon their own expenses, 
g 2 77 



78 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



to the war in the army, and with the forces which his majesty 
sendeth, for the time of one year, to fight against the Turks, 
and other infidels, or to do any other service, as, to help per- 
sonally in the same army, continuing in it the whole year. To 
all these his holiness doth grant a free and full indulgence, 
and pardon of all their sins, (if they have a perfect contrition, 
or, if they confess them by mouth, and if they cannot, if they 
have a hearty desire of it) which hath been used to be grant- 
ed to them that go to the conquest of the holy land, and in 
the year of Jubilee : and declares that all they, that should 
die before the end of the expedition, or in the way, as the y 
are going to the army before the expedition, should likewise 
enjoy and obtain the said pardon and indulgence. 

He granteth also the same to them, who, (though they di 
not go personally) should send another upon their own expen- 
ses in this manner, viz : If he that sends another is a cardi- 
nal, primate, patriarch, arch-bishop, bishop, son of a king, 
prince, duke, marquis, or earl, then he must send as many as 
he can possibly send, till ten ; and if he cannot send ten, he 
must send at least four soldiers. All other persons of what 
condition soever they may be, must send one, in such a case, 
two or three, or four, may join and contribute, every one ac- 
cording to his abilities, and send one soldier. 

2. Item. The chapters, * all churches, monasteries of fri- 
ars and nuns, without excepting mendicant orders, if ten, with 
the consent of the chapter or community, do join to send one 
soldier, they do enjoy the said indulgence; and not they only, 
but the person too, sent by them, if he be poor. 

3. Item. The secular priests, who, with the consent of 
their diocesan and the friars of their superiors, should preach 
the word of God in the said army, or should perform any other 
ecclesiastical and pious office (which is declared to be lawful 
for them, without incurring irregularity) are empowered to 
serve their benefices, by meet and fit tenants, having not the 
cure of souls ; for if they have, they cannot without his holi- 
ness' consent. And it is declared, that the soldiers employed 
in this war are not obliged to fast the days appointed and com- 
manded by the church, and which they should be obliged to 
fast on, if they were not in the war. 

4. Item. His holiness grants (not only to the soldiers, but 
to all them too, who, though they should not go, should en- 
courage this holy work with the charity undermentioned) all 
the indulgences, graces, and privileges in this bull contained, 
and this for a whole year, reckoning from the publishing of it 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



in any place whatsoever, viz. : that (yet, in the time of apos- 
tolical, or ordinary interdictum, i. e. suspension of all ecclesias- 
tical and divine service) they may hear mass either in the 
churches and monasteries, or in the private oratories marked 
and visited by the diocesan; and if they were priests, to say 
mass and other divine offices ; or if they were not, to make 
others to celebrate mass before them, their familiar friends 
and relations, to receive the holy sacrament of the Lord's sup- 
per and the other sacraments, except on Easter Sunday,, provi- 
ded, that they have not given occasion for the said interdictum,. 
nor hindered the taking of it : Provided likewise, that every 
time they make use of such oratory, they should, according to 
their devotion, pray for union and concord among all Chris- 
tian princes, the rooting out of heresies, and victory over the 
infidels. 

5. Item. His holiness granteth, that in time of interdictum,. 
their corpse may be buried in sacred ground, w T ith a moderate 
funeral pomp. 

6. Item. He grants to all, that should take this bull, that 
during the year, by the counsel of both spiritual and corporal 
physicians, they may eat flesh in Lent, and several other days 
in which it is prohibited : And likewise, that they may freely 
eat eggs and things with milk; and that all these, who should 
eat no flesh (keeping the form of the ecclesiastical fast,) do 
fulfil the precept of fasting : And in this privilege of eating 
eggs, &c, are not comprised the ^patriarchs, primates, arch- 
bishops, bishops, nor other inferior prelates, nor any person 
whatsoever of the regulars, nor of the secular priests, (the 
days only of lent,) notwithstanding from the mentioned per- 
sons, we except all those that are sixty years of age, and all 
the knights of the military orders, who freely may eat eggs, 
&c., and enjoy the said privilege. 

7. Item. The abovenamed, that should not go, nor send any 
soldier to this holy war, out of their own substance, (if they 
should help to it, keeping a fast for devotion's sake, in some 
days, which are of no precept, and praying and imploring the 
help of God, for the victory against the infidels, and his grace, 
for the union among the Christian princes,) as many times as 
they should do it, during the year, so many times it is granted 
them, and graciously forgiven fifteen years, and fifteen quar- 
antains of pardon, and all the penances imposed on them, and 
in whatever manner due ; also that they be partakers of all 
the prayers, alms and pilgrimages of Jerusalem, and all the 



80 



MASTER-KEY TO POPEEY. 



good works which should be done in the universal militant 
church, and in each of its members. 

8. Item. To all those, who in the days of lent and other 
days of the year, in which* estations are at Rome, should visit 
five churches, or five altars, and if there is not five churches, 
or five altars, five times should visit one church, or one altar, 
praying for the victory, and union above mentioned, his holi- 
ness granteth that they should enjoy and obtain the indulgen- 
ces and pardons, which all those do enjoy and obtain, that 
personally visit the churches of the city of Rome, and without 
the walls of it, as well as if they did visit personally the said 
churches. 

9. Item. To the intent, that the same persons with more 
purity, and cleanness of their consciences, might pray, his, 
holiness grants, that they might choose for their confessor any 
secular or regular priest licensed by the diocesan, to whom 
power is granted to absolve them of all sins and censures 
whatsoever, [though they be reserved to the apostolical see, 
and specified in the bull of the Lord's supper, except of the 
crime heresy,] and that they should enjoy free and full indul- 
gence and pardon of them all. But of the sins not reserved 
to the apostolical see, they may be absolved toties quoties, i. e. 
as many times as they do confess them, and perform salutary 
penance : And if to be absolved, there be need of restitution, 
they might make it themselves, or by their heirs, if they have 
an impediment to make it themselves. Likewise the said con- 
fessor shall have power to communicate or change any vow 
whatsoever, though made with an oath, (excepting the vow 
of chastity, religion, and beyond seas) but this is, upon giving 
for charity what they should think fit, for the benefit of the 
holy crusade. 

10. Item. That if, during the said year they should happen,, 
by sudden death or by the absence of their confessor, to 
die without confessing their sins; if they die hearty peni- 
tents j and in the time appointed by the church, had confessed 
and have not been negligent or careless in confidence of this 
grace, it is granted, that they should obtain the said free and 
full indulgence and pardon of all their sins ; and their corpse 
might be buried in ecclesiastical burying place, (if they did 
not die excommunicated,) notwithstanding the interdictum. 

11. Likewise his holiness hath granted by his particular 
brief, to all the faithful Christians, that take the bull twice a 
year, that they might once more, during their lives, and once 
more at the point of death, (besides what is said above,) be 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



81 



absolved of all the sins, crimes, excesses of what nature soev- 
er, censures, sentences of excommunication, though compris- 
ed in the bull of the Lord's supper, and though the abso- 
lution of them be reserved to his holiness, (except the crime 
and offence of heresy,) and that they might twice more enjoy 
all the graces, indulgences, faculties and pardons granted in 
this bull. 

12. And his holiness gives power and authority to us Don 
Francis Anthony Ramirez de la Piscina, archdeacon of Al- 
carraz, prebendary and canon of the holy church of Toledo, 
primate of the Spains, of his Majesty's council, apostolic, 
general commissary of the holy crusada, and all other gra- 
ces in all the kingdoms and dominions of Spain, to suspend 
(during the year of the publishing of this bull) all the graces, 
indulgences, and faculties, granted to the said kingdoms, do- 
minions, isles, provinces, to whatever churches, monasteries, 
hospitals, brotherhoods, pious places, and to particular persons, 
though the granting of them did contain words contrary to 
this suspension. 

13. Likewise he gives us power to reinforce and make good 
again the same graces and faculties, and all others whatso- 
ever ; and he gives us and our deputies, power to suspend the 
interdictum in whatever place this bull should be preached * 
and likewise to fix and determine the quantum of the contri- 
bution the people is to give for this bull, according to the 
abilities and quality of persons. 

14. And we the said apostolic general commissary of the ho- 
ly crusada, (in favor of this holy bull, by the apostolical author- 
ity granted to us, and that so holy a work do not cease nor be 
hindered by any other indulgence,) do suspend, during the 
year, all the graces, indulgences and faculties, of this or any 
other kind, granted by his holiness, or by other popes his pre- 
decessors, or by the holy apostolical see, or by his authority, 
to all the kingdoms of his majesty, to all churches, monaste- 
ries, hospitals and other pious places, universities, brother- 
hoods, and secular persons ; though the said graces and facul- 
ties be in favor of the building of St. Peter's church at Rome, 
or of any crusada, though all and every one of them should 
contain words contrary to this suspension : So that, during 
the year, no person shall obtain, or enjoy any other graces, 
indulgences or faculties whatsoever, nor can be published, 
except only the privileges granted to the superiors of the 
mendicant orders, as to their friars. 

15. And in favor of this bull, and by the said apostolical 



82 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



authority we declare, that all those that would take this bull, 
might obtain, and enjoy all the graces, faculties and indulgen- 
ces, jubilees and pardons, which have been granted by our 
holy fathers, Paul the 5th, and Urbannus the 8th, and by other 
popes of happy memory, and by the holy apostolical see, or by 
its authority, mentioned and comprised in the said suspension, 
and which, by the apostolical commission, we reinforce and 
make good again; and by the same authority do suspend the 
interdictum for eight days before and after publishing this 
bull, in any place whatsoever (as it is contained in his holi- 
ness's brief) : And we command that every body, that would 
take this bull, be obliged to keep by him the same which is here 
printed, signed and sealed with our name and seal, and that oth- 
erwise they cannot obtain, nor enjoy the benefit of the said bull. 

16. And whereas you (Peter de Zuloaga) have given two 
reales de plata, which is the charity fixed by us, and have ta- 
ken this bull, and your name is written in it, we do declare, 
that you have already obtained, and are granted the said in- 
dulgences, and that you may enjoy and make use of them in 
the abovementioned form. Given at Madrid, the eighteenth 
day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighteen. 

Form of absolution, which, by virtue of this bull, may be given to all those 
that take the bull once in their life time, and once upon the point of 
death. 

Misereatur tui Omnipotens Deus, &c. By the authority of 
God and his holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and our most 
holy father (N.) to you especially granted and to be committed, 
I absolve you from all censure of the greater or lesser excom- 
munication, suspension, interdictum, and from all other cen- 
sures and pains, or punishments, which they have incurred 
and deserved, though the absolution of them be reserved to the 
apostolic see, (as by the same is granted to you.) And I 
bring you again into the union and communion of the faithful 
Christians : And also I absolve you from all the sins, crimes, 
and excesses, which you have now here confessed, and from 
those which you would confess, if you did remember them, 
though they be so exceeding great, that the absolution of them 
be reserved to the apostolical see ; and I do grant you free and 
full indulgence, and pardon of all your sins now and whenever 
confessed, forgotten, and out of your mind, and of all the pains 
and punishments which you were obliged to endure for them 
in purgatory. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost. — Amen. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



83 



Brief, or sum of the estations and indulgences of Rome, which his holiness 
grants to ail those that would take and fulfil the contents of this bull. 

The first day in St Sabine, free and full indulgence, 

Thursday in St. George do. 

Friday in St. John and St. Paul, do. 

Saturday in St. Criffon, do. 

First Sunday in Lent, in St. John St. Paul, do. 

Monday in St. Peter ad Vincula, do. 

Tuesday in St. Anastasie, do. 

*And this day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 
Wednesday in St. Mary, the greater, free and full indulgence. 

Thursday in St. Laurence Panisperaa, do. 

Friday in the saints apostles, do. 

Saturday in St. Peter, do. 
Second Sunday in lent, in St. Mary, of Na- 
vicula, and St. Mary, the greater, do. 

Monday in St. Clement, do. 

Tuesday in St. Balbine, do. 

Wednesday in St. Cicile, do. 

Thursday in St. Marytranstiber, do. 

Friday in St. Vidal, do. 

Saturday in St. Peter and St. Marcelin, do. 

*And this day every body takes one soul out of purgatory. 
Third Sunday in lent in St. Laurence, 

extra Muros, free and full indulgence. 

*And this day every body takes one soul out of purgatory. 

Monday in St. Mark, free and full indulgence. 

Tuesday in St. Potenciane, do. 

Wednesday in St. Sixte, do. 

Thursday in St. Cosme, and St. Damian, the 
image of our lady of Populi and Pacis, is 
shown. do. 

Friday in St. Laurence in Lucina, do. 

Saturday in St. Susane, and St. Mary of the angels 
Fourth Sunday in lent in St. Crosse of Jerusalem do. 

*This day every body takes one soul out of purgatory. 

Monday in the 4-crowned free and full indulgences. 

Tuesday in St. Laurence in Damascus, do. 

Wednesday in St. Peter, do. 

Thursday in St. Silvastre and in St. Mary in 
the mountains do. 

Friday in St. Usebe, do. 

Saturday in St. Nicholas in prison, do. 
Fifth Sunday in lent in St. Peter, do. 



84 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Monday in St. Crissone, free and full indulgence. 
Tuesday in St. Quirce, do. 
Wednesday in St. Marcelle do. 
Thursday in St. Appollinaris do. 
Friday in St. Estephan> do. 
*This day every body takes one soul out of purgatory. 
Saturday in St. John ante Portam Latinam, free and full in- 
dulgence. 

*And this day every one takes a soul out of purgatory. 
Sixth Sunday in lent in St. John de Leteran, full and free 

[indulgence. 

Monday in St. Praxedis, do. 

Tuesday in St. Priske, do*. 

Wednesday in St. Mary the greater do. 

Thursday in St. John de Leteran, do. 

Friday in St. Crosse of Jerusalem, and in St. 
Mary of the angels, do. 

Saturday in St. John de Leteran, do. 
Easter Sunday in St. Mary the greater, do. 

Monday in St. Peter, do. 

Tuesday in St. Paul, do. 

Wednesday in St. Laurence extra muros, do. 

*This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 

Thursday in the saints apostles, free and full indulgence. 

Friday in St. Mary Rotunda, do. 

Saturday in St. John Deleteran, do. 

Sunday after Easter in St. Pancracy, do. 
ESTATIONS AFTER EASTER. 
In the greater litanies : St. Mark's day j in St. 
Peter. do. 

Ascension-day in St. Peter, do. 

Whitesunday in St. John de Leteran, do. 

Monday in St. Peter, do. 

Tuesday in St. Anastasie, do. 

Wednesday in St. Mary the greater, do. 

Thursday in St. Laurence, extra muros, do. 

*This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 

Friday in the saints apostles, free and full indulgence. 

Saturday in St. Peter, do. 
ESTATIONS IN ADVENT. 
First Sunday in St. Mary the greater, do. 

And in the same church all the holy days of 
our lady, do. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



85 



Second Sunday in St. Crosse of Jerusalem, free and full in- 

The same day in St. Mary of the angels, do. [diligence. 
Third Sunday in St. Peter, do. 

Wednesday of the four rogations, in St. Mary the greater, 

Friday in the saints apostles, do. 

Saturday in St. Peter, do. 
Fourth Sunday in the saints apostles, do. 

CARISTMAS NIGHT. 
At the first mass in St. Mary the greater, in the 

Manger's chapel, do. 
At the second mass St. Anastasie, do. 

CHRISTMAS DAY. 
At the third mass in St. Mary the greater do. 

Monday in St Mary Rotunda, do. 

Tuesday in St. Mary the greater, do. 
The innocent's day in St. Paul, do. 
The circumcision of Christ in St. Mary Transtiber, 
The Epiphany in St. Peter, do. 
Dominica in Septuag. in St. Laurence, extra muros, 

*This day every body takes a soul out of purgatory. 
Dominica in Sexag. in St. Paul, free and full indulgence. 
Dominica in Quinquag. in St.Peter, do. 

And because every day of the year, there is estations at 
Rome, with great indulgences, therefore it is granted to all 
those that take this bull, the same indulgences and pardons 
every day which are granted at Rome. 

Don Francis Anthony Ramiret, de la Pisoina. 

Explanation of this bull, and remark upon it. 

BULL OF CRUSADE. 
A pope's brief, granting the sign of the cross to those that 
take it. All that a foreigner can learn in the dictionaries, as 
to this word, is the above account; therefore I ought to tell 
you that are foreigners, that the word crusada was a grant of 
the cross; i. e. that when the king of Spain makes , war 
against the Turks and infidels, his coat of arms, and the mot- 
to of his colors, is the cross, by which all the soldiers under- 
stand such a war is an holy war, and that the army of the 
king, having in its standard the sign of the cross, hath a great 
advantage over the enemy; for, as they do believe, if they 
die in such a war, their souls go straight to heaven ; and to 
confirm them in this opinion, the pope grants them this bull, 
signed with the sign of the cross, so many indulgences as you 
have read in it, 

H 



86 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Again, cms, or cross, is the only distinguishing character 
of those that follow the colors of Jesus Christ, from whence 
crusada is derived, that is to say, a brief of indulgences and 
privileges of the cross granted to all those that serve in the 
war for the defence of the christian faith against all its ene- 
mies whatsoever. 

This bull is granted by the pope every year to the king of 
Spain, and all his subjects, by which the king increases his 
treasure, and the pope takes no small share of it. The ex- 
cessive sums of money, which the bull brings in to the king 
and pope, every body may easily know, by the account I am 
going to give of it. 

It is an inviolable custom in Spain, every year, after Christ- 
mas, to have this bull published in every city, town and bo- 
rough, which is always done in the following manner: 

The general commissary of the holy crusade most common- 
ly resides at Madrid, from whence he sends to his deputies in 
every kingdom or province, the printed bulls they want in 
their respective jurisdictions. This bull being published at 
Madrid by the general commissary or his deputy, which is 
always done by a famous preacher, after the gospel is sung in 
the high mass, and in a sermon which he preaches upon this 
subject. After this is done at Madrid, (I say,) all the deputies 
of the holy crusada send from the capital city, where they 
reside, friars with a petit commissary to every town and vil- 
lage, to preach and publish the bull. Every preacher has his 
own circuit, and a certain number of towns and villages to 
publish it in ; and making use of the privileges mentioned in 
the bull, he in his sermon persuades the people that nobody 
can be saved that year without it, which they do and say eve- 
ry year again. 

The petit commissary, for his trouble, has half a real of 
eight, i. e. two and fourpence a day; and the preacher, accor- 
ding to the extent of the circuit, has twenty or thirty crowns 
for the whole journey, and both are well entertained in every 
place. 

Every soul from seven years of age and upwards, is obliged 
to take a bull, and pay two reals of plate, i. e. thirteen pence 
three farthings of this money; and one part out of three of the 
living persons take two or three, according to their families 
and abilities. The regular priests are obliged to take three 
times every year the bull, for which they pay two reals of 
plate : In the beginning of lent another, which they call, bull 
of lacticinous, i.e. bull to eat eggs, and things of milk, with- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



87 



out which they cannot : And another in the holy week. For 
the bull of lacticinous they pay four and nine pence, and the 
same for the bull of the holy week ; the friars and nuns do 
the same. Now^ if you consider the number of ecclesiastics 
and nuns and all the living souls from seven years of age and 
upwards, you may easily know what vast sums of money the 
king gets in his dominions by this yearly brief, of which the 
third part or better goes to Rome one way or other. 

Add to this the bull of the dead. This is another sort of 
bull ; for the pope grants in it pardon of sins, and salvation to 
them who, before they die, or after their death, their relations 
for them take this bull of defunctorum. The custom of tak- 
ing this bull is become a law, and a very rigorous law in 
their church ; for nobody can be buried, either in the church, 
or in the church-yard, without having this bull upon their 
breasts, which (as they say) is a token and signal that they 
were Christians in their lives, and after death they are in the 
way of salvation. 

So many poor people, either beggars or strangers, or those 
that die in the hospitals, could not be buried without the help 
of the well-disposed people, who bestow their charities for 
the use of taking bulls of the dead, that the poor destitute peo- 
ple might have the benefit of a consecrated burying-place. 
The sum for this bull is two reals of plate, and whatever mo- 
ney is gathered together in the whole year goes to the Pope, 
or (as they say) to the treasure of the church. Now I leave 
to every body's consideration, how many persons die in a 
year, in so vast dominions as those of the king of Spain, by 
which, in this point, the Pope's benefit, or the treasure of the 
church, may be nearly known. 

O stupid, blind, ignorant people ! Of what use or benefit 
is this bull after death? Hear what St. John tells you, Happy 
are they that die in the Lord. It is certain that all those that 
die in the grace of the Lord, heartily penitent, and sorry for 
their sins, go immediately to enjoy the ravishing pleasures of 
eternal life ; and those that die in sin, go to suffer forever in 
the dark place of torment. And this happens to our souls 
the very instant of their separation from their bodies. Let 
every body make use of their natural reason, and read impar- 
tially the scripture, and he will find it to be so, or else he will 
believe it to be so. Then if it is so, they ought to consider, 
that when they take this bull (which is commonly a little be- 
fore they carry the corpse) into the church, the judgment of 
God, as to the soul, is over, (for in the twinkling of an eye he 



88 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



may lay the charges and pass the sentence) — at that time the 
soul is either in heaven, or hell. What then doth the bull 
signify to them? But of this I shall speak in another place. 
And now I come to the explanation of the bull, and the re- 
marks upon it. 

This bull I am speaking of was granted five years ago to 
the faithful people of Spain, by the late pope, and which a 
gentleman of the army took accidentally from a master of a 
ship out of Biscay, whose name is Peter de Zoloaga, as it is 
signed by himself in the same bull, and may be seen at the 
publishers. I have said already that a bull is every year 
granted to the king of Spain, by the pope in being, who ei- 
ther for the sake of money, or for fear, doth not scruple at all 
to grant quite contrary bulls, to two kings at the same time 
reigning in Spain. Now I crave leave to vindicate my pre- 
sent saying. 

When the present king of Spain, Philip the Vth, went there 
and was crowned, both the arms spiritual and temporal, rep- 
resentatives of the whole nation, (as in these kingdoms, the 
house of lords and commons,) gave him the oath of fidelity, 
acknowledging him for their lawful sovereign : And when 
this was done, pope Clement Xlth did confirm it, nay, his holi- 
ness gave him the investiture of Naples, which is the sealing 
up all the titles and rights belonging to a lawful king, and 
after this he granted him the bull crusade, by which he ac- 
knowledged him king, and gave him help to defend himself 
and his dominions against all the enemies of Christianity, and 
all enemies whatsoever. Every body knows that this pope 
was for the interests of the house of Bourbon, rather than the 
house of Austria; and so no wonder, if he did not lose any 
time in settling the crown and all the right upon Philip of 
Bourbon, rather than upon Charles the Illd, the present em- 
peror of Germany. 

This last, thinking that the right to the crown of Spain be- 
longed to him, of which I shall not talk, begun the war 
against Philip, supported by the Heretics (as the Spaniards 
call the English,) and being proclaimed at Madrid, and at 
Saragossa, he applied to the pope to be confirmed king, and to 
get both the investiture of Naples, and the bull of the holy 
crusade. As to the investiture of Naples, I leave it to the history 
written upon the late war: But as to the bull, the pope grant- 
ed it to him, giving him all the titles he gave to Philip. At 
the same time there were two kings, and two bulls, and one 
pope, and one people. The divines met together to examine 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



89 



this point, viz: Whether the same people, having given their 
oath of fidelity to Philip, and taken the bull granted to him, 
were obliged to acknowledge Charles as a king, and take the 
bull granted to him. 

The divines for Philip were of opinion that the pope could 
not annul the oath, nor dispense with the oath taken by the 
whole nation, and that the people were obliged in conscience 
not to take any other bull than that granted to Philip ; and their 
reason was, that the pope was forced by the imperial army to 
do it; and that his holiness did it out of fear, and to prevent 
the ruin of the church, which then was threatened. 

The divines for Charles did allege the pope's infallibility, 
and that every christian is obliged in conscience to follow the 
last declaration of the pope, and blindly to obey it, without 
inquiring into the reasons that did move the pope to it. And 
the same dispute was about the presentation of bishops, for 
there was at the same time a bishoprick vacant, and Charles 
having appointed one, and Philip another, the pope confirmed 
them both, and both of them were consecrated. From this it 
appears that the pope makes no scruple at all in granting two 
bulls to two kings at the same time, and to embroil with them 
the whole nation ; which he did not out of fear, nor to prevent 
the ruin of the church, but of self-interest, and to secure his 
revenue both ways, and on both sides. 

But, reader, be not surprised at this ; for this pope I am 
speaking of, was so ambitious, and of so haughty a temper, 
that he did not care what means he made use of, either to 
please his temper, or to quench the thirst of his ambition. I 
say, he was of so haughty a temper, that he never suffered 
his decrees to be contradicted or disputed, though they were 
against both human and divine laws. To clear this, I will 
give an account of an instance in a case which happened in 
his pontificate : 

I was in Lisbon ten years ago, and a Spanish gentleman 
whose surname was Gonzalez, came to lodge in the same 
house where I was for a while before; and as we, after supper, 
were talking of the pope's supremacy and power, he told me 
that he himself was a living witness of the pope's authority 
on oath: and asking him how? he gave the following account. 

I was born in Granade, said he, of honest and rich, though 
not noble parents, who gave me the best education they could 
in that city. I was not twenty years of age when my father 
and mother died, both within the space of six months. They 
left me all they had in the world, recommending to me in their 

h2 



90 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



testament, to take care of my sister Dorothea, and to provide 
for her. She was the only sister I had, and at that time in the 
eighteenth year of her age. From our youth we had tenderly- 
loved one another; and upon her account, quitting my studies, 
I gave myself up to her company. This tender brotherly love 
produced in my heart at last another sort of love for her ; and 
though I never showed her my passion, I was a sufferer by it. 
I was ashamed within myself to see that I could not master 
nor overcome this irregular inclination ; and perceiving that 
the persisting in it would prove the ruin of my soul, and my 
sister's too, I finally resolved to quit the country for a while, 
to see whether I could dissipate this passion, and banish out 
of my heart this burning and consuming fire ; and after hav- 
ing settled my affairs, and put my sister under the care of an 
aunt, I took my leave of her, who being surprised at this un- 
expected news, she upon her knees begged me to tell the rea- 
son that moved me to quit the country ; and after telling her 
that I had no reason, but only a mind and desire to travel two 
or three years, and that I begged of her not to marry any per- 
son in the world, until my return home, I left her and went to 
Home. By letters of recommendation, by money, and my 
careful comportment, I got myself in a little time into the 
favor and house of cardinal A. I. Two years I spent in his 
service at my own expense, and his kindness to me was so 
exceeding great, that I was not only his companion, but his 
favorite and confidant. All this while, I was so raving and in 
so deep a melancholy, that his eminence pressed upon me to 
tell him the reason. I told him that my distemper had no 
remedy : but he still insisted the more to know my distemper. 
At last, I told him the love I had for my sister, and that it 
being impossible she should be my wife, my distemper had no 
remedy. To this he said nothing, but the day following went 
to the sacred palace, and meeting in the pope's antichamber 
cardinal P . L, he asked him whether the pope could dispense 
with the natural and divine impediment between brother and 
sister to be married; and as cardinal P. I. said that the pope 
could not, my protector began a loud and bitter dispute with 
him, alleging reasons by which the pope could do it. The pope, 
hearing the noise, came out of his chamber, and asked what was 
the matter? He was told it, and flying into an uncommon pas- 
sion, said the pope may do every thing, I do dispense with it, and 
left them with these words. The protector took testimony of 
the Pope's declaration,, and went to the datary and drew a 
oubiic instrument of the dispensation, and coming home, gave 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



91 



it to me, and said, though I shall be deprived of your good 
services and company, I am very glad that I serve you in this 
to your heart's desire and satisfaction. Take this dispensa- 
tion, and go whenever you please to marry your sister. I left 
Rome, and came home, and after I had rested from the fatigue 
of so long a journey, I went to present the dispensation to the 
bishop and to get his license ; but he told me that he could not 
receive the dispensation, nor give such a license; I acquaint- 
ed my protector with this, and immediately an excommunica- 
tion was despatched against the bishop, for having disobeyed 
the pope, and commanding him to pay a thousand pistoles for 
the treasure of the church, and to marry me himself; so I was 
married by the bishop, and at this time I have five children by 
my wife and sister. 

From these accounts, Christian reader, you may judge of 
that pope's temper and ambition, and you may likewise think 
of the rest as you may see it in the following discourse. 

The title, head or direction of this bull is, to all the faithful 
Christians, in the kingdoms and dominions of Spain, who 
should help, or serve in the war, which the king makes against 
Turks, infidels, and all the enemies of the holy catholic faith; 
or to those that should contribute, and pray for the union 
among the Christian princes, and for the victory over the ene- 
mies of Christianity. 

The Roman Catholics, with the pope, say and firmly believe 
(I speak of the generality) that no man can be saved out of 
their communion; and so they reckon enemies of their faith 
all those that are of a different opinion ; and we may be sure 
that the Protestants or heretics (as they call them) are their 
irreconcilable enemies. 

They pray publicly for the extirpation of the heretics, 
Turks, and Infidels in the mass ; and they do really believe, 
they are bound in conscience to make use of all sorts of means, 
let them be ever so base, inhuman, and barbarous, for the 
murdering of them. This is the doctrine of the church of 
Rome, which the priests and confessors do take care to sow in 
the Roman Catholics ; and by their advice, the hatred, malice, 
and aversion is raised to a great height against the heretics, 
as you shall know by the following instances. 

First, in the last war between Charles the 3d, and Philip 
the 5th, the protestants confederate with Charles did suffer 
very much by the country people. Those encouraged by the 
priests and confessors of Philip's part, thinking that if any 
Christian could kill a heretic, he should do God service, did 



92 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



murder in private many soldiers both English and Dutch. I 
saw, and I do speak now before God and the world, in a town 
called Ficentes de Ebro, several arms and legs out of the 
ground in the field, and inquiring the reason why those corpses 
were buried in the field (a thing indeed not unusual there) 
I was answered, that those were the corpses of some English 
heretics, murdered by the patrons or land-lords, who had kill- 
ed them to show their zeal for their religion, and an old max- 
im among them: De los Enemigos los menos: let us have as 
few enemies as we can. Fourteen English private men-were 
killed the night before in their beds, and buried in the field, 
and I myself reckoned all of them; and I suppose many others 
were murdered, whom I did not see, though I heard of it. 

The murderers make no scruple of it, but out of bravery, 
and zeal for their religion, tell it to the father confessor, not as 
a sin, but as a famous action done by them in favor of, their 
faith. So great is the hatred and aversion the catholics have 
against the protestants and all enemies of their religion. We 
could confirm the truth of this proposition with the cruelty of 
the late king of France against the poor Hugonotes, whom we 
call now refugees. This is well known to every body, there- 
fore I leave Lewis and his counsellors, where they are in the 
other world, where-it is to be feared they endure more torments 
than the banished refugees in this present one. So to con- 
clude what I have to say upon the head or title of this bull, I 
may positively affirm that the pope's design in granting it, is, 
first, out of interest; secondly, to encourage the common peo- 
ple to make war, and to root up all the people that are not of 
his communion, or to increase this way, if he can, his reve- 
nues, or the treasure of the church. 

I come now to the beginning of the bull, where the pope or 
his subdelegate, deputy, or general commissary, doth ground 
the granting of it in that passage of the prophet Joel, chap, 
iii, v. 18. expressed in these words: That he saw for the com- 
fort of all, a mystical fountain come out from God inhis house, 
(or as it is in Spanish in the original bull) from God and from 
the Lord^s house, which did water and wash the sins of that 
people. 

The reflections which may be made upon this text, I leave 
to our divines, whose learning I do equally covet and respect: 
I only say, that in the Latin bible I have found the text thus : 
Etfonse domo Jehova prodibit, qui irrigabit vallem ccdrorvm 
Lectissimarum. And in our English translation : And a foun- 
tain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



93 



the valley of Shittem. Now I leave the learned man to make 
his reflections, and I proceed to the application. 

Seeing then our most holy father (so goes on) Clement the 
Xlth, for the zeal of the catholic king, for the defence of our 
holy faith, to help him in this holy enterprise, doth grant him 
this bull, by which holiness openeth the springs of the blood 
of Christ; and the treasure of his inestimable merits, and with 
it encourageth all the Christians to the assistance of this un- 
dertaking. 

I said before that the pope grants every year such a bull as 
this for the same purpose : so every year he openeth the 
springs of Christ's blood. O heaven! what is man that thou 
shouldst magnify him ? Or rather, what is this man that he 
should magnify himself, taking upon him the title of most holy 
father, and that of his holiness? A man (really a man) for 
it is certain that this man and many others of his predecessors, 
had had several b s. This man (I say) to take upon him- 
self the power of opening the springs of Christ, and this every 
year ! ! Who will not be surprised at his assurance, and at his 
highest provocation of the Lord and his Christ ? 

For my part, I really believe that he openeth the springs of 
the blood of Christ, and openeth afresh those wounds of our 
Redeemer, not only every year, but every day without ceas- 
ing. This I do believe, but not as they believe it ; and if their 
doctrine be true among themselves, by course they must agree 
with me in this saying, that the pope doth crucify afresh our 
Saviour Christ without ceasing. In the treatise of vices and 
sins, the Romish divines propose a question : utrum, or whether 
a man that takes upon himself one of God's attributes, be a 
blasphemous man, and whether such a man by his sins can 
kill God and Christ, or not? As to the first part of the ques- 
tion, they all do agree that such a man is a blasphemous man. 
As to the second part, some are of an opinion that such an ex- 
pression, of killing God, has no room in the question. But the 
greater part of scholastic and moral authors do admit the ex- 
pression, and say such a man cannot kill God effectively, but 
that he doth it affectively ; that is to say, that willingly taking 
upon himself an attribute of God, and acting against his laws, 
he doth affront and offend in the highest degree that supreme 
lawgiver ; and by taking on himself the office of a high priest, 
the power of forgiving sins, which only belong to our Saviour 
Jesus, he affectively offends, and openeth afresh his wounds 
and the springs of his blood : and if it were possible for us to 
see him face to face, whom no man living hath seen yet; as 



94 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



we see him through a glass now, we should find his high indigo 
nation against such a man. But he must appear before the- 
dreadful tribunal of our God, and be judged by him according 
to his deeds : he shall have the same judgment with the anti- 
christ, for though we cannot prove by the scripture that he is 
the antichrist, notwithstanding we may defy antichrist himself; 
whoever he be, and whenever he comes, to do worse and more 
wicked things than the pope doth. O, what a fearful thing is 
it to fall into the hands of a living God ! Now I come to the 
articles of the bull ; and first of all, 

1. His holiness grants a free and full indulgence and par- 
don of all their sins to those who, upon their own expenses, go 
to or serve personally in the war against the enemies of the 
Roman Catholic faith; but this must be understood if they con- 
tinue in the army the whole year : so the next year they are 
obliged to take this bull, and to continue in the same service, 
if they will obtain the same indulgence and pardon, and so on 
all their life time, for if they quit the service, they cannot en- 
joy this benefit, therefore, for sake of this imaginary pardon, 
they continue in it till they die^ for otherwise there is no par- 
don of sins. 

Let us observe another thing in this article. The same in- 
dulgence and pardon is granted to those that die in the army, 
or going to the army before the expedition, or before the end 
of the year : but this must be understood also, if they die with 
perfect contrition of their sins ; or if they do confess them by 
mouth, or if they cannot, if they have a hearty desire to confess 
them. As to the first condition, if they die with perfect contri- 
tion, no Roman or Protestant divine will deny that God will 
forgive such a man's sins, and receive him into his everlasting 
favor, so to such a man, a free and full indulgence and pardon 
is of no use ; for without it, he is sure to obtain God's mercy 
and forgiveness. 

As to the second condition, or if they do confess them by 
mouth, or have a hearty desire to do it; if a man want a hearty 
repentance, or is not heartily penitent and contrite, what can 
this condition of confessing by mouth, or having a hearty desire 
for it, profit such a man's soul? It being certain that a man 
by his open confession may deceive the confessor and his own 
soul, but he cannot deceive God Almighty, who is the only 
searcher of our hearts. And if the catholics will say to this, 
that open confession is a sign of repentance, we may answer 
them, that among the Protestants it is so, for being not obliged 
to do it, nor by the laws of God, nor by those of the church, 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



95 



when they do it, it is in all human probability, a sure sign of 
repentance : but among the Roman Catholics, this is no argu- 
ment of repentance, for very often their lips are near the 
Lord, but their hearts very far off. 

How can we suppose that an habitual sinner, that to fulfil 
the precepts of their church, confesses once a year; and after 
it, the very same day, falls again into the same course of life ; 
how can we presume, I say, that the open confession of such a 
man is a sign of repentance ? And if the Roman Catholics re- 
ply to this, that the case of this first article is quite different, 
being only for those that die in the war with true contrition and 
repentance, or open confession, or hearty desire of it; I say 
that in this case it is the same as in others. For whenever 
and wherever a man dies truly penitent and heartily sorry for 
his sin, such a man, without this bull and its indulgences and 
pardons, is forgiven by God, who hath promised his holy spirit 
to all those that ask it; and on the other side, if a man dies 
without repentance, though he confesseth his sins, he cannot 
obtain pardon and forgiveness from God, and in such a case 
the pope's indulgences and pardons cannot free that man from 
the punishment his impenitent heart hath deserved. 

Observe likewise, that to all those warriors against the ene- 
mies of the Romish faith, the pope grants the same indulgen- 
ces which he grants to those, that go to the conquest of the ho- 
ly land, in the year of jubilee. The Roman Catholics ought 
to consider, that the greatest favor we can expect from God 
Almighty, is only the pardon of our sins, for his grace and 
everlasting glory do follow after it. Then if the pope grants 
them free, full and general pardon of their sins in this bull, 
what need have they of the pardons and indulgences, granted 
to those that go to the conquest of the holy land, and in the 
year of jubilee? 

But because few are acquainted with the nature of such in- 
dulgences and graces granted in the year of jubilee, I must 
crave leave from the learned people to say what I know in this 
matter. I will not trouble the public with the catalogue of the 
pope's bulls, but I cannot pass by one article contained in one 
of these bulls, which may be found in some libraries of curious 
gentlemen and learned divines of our church, and especially 
in the earl of Sunderland's library, which is directed to the 
Roman Catholics of England in these words : Filii mei date 
mihi corda vestra, et hoc sufficit vohis : My children, give me 
your hearts, and this is sufficient. So by this, they may swear 
and curse, steal and murder, and commit most heinous crimes; 



96 MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 

if they keep their hearts for the pope, that is enough to be sa- 
ved. Observe this doctrine, and I leave it to you, reader, 
whether such an opinion is according to God's will, nay, to nat- 
ural reason, or not? 

The article of the bull for the year of jubliee doth contain 
these words : If any christian, and professor of our Catholic 
faith, going to the holy land, to the war against the Turks and 
Infidels, or in the year of jubilee to our city of Rome, should 
happen to die in the way, ice declare that his soul goes straight- 
way to heaven. 

The preachers of the holy crusade, in their circuits, are 
careful in specifying in their sermons, all these graces and in- 
dulgences, to encourage the people, either to go to the war, or 
to make more bulls than one. With this crowd of litanies and 
pardons, the pope blinds the common people, and increases 
his treasure. 

In this same first article of our present bull, it is said, that 
the same graces and indulgences are granted to all those, who, 
though they do not go personally, should send another upon 
their own expenses ; and that if he be a cardinal, primate, 
patriarch, archbishop, bishop, son of a king, prince, duke, mar- 
quis, or earl, he must send ten, or at least four soldiers, and 
the rest of the people one, or one between ten. 

Observe now, that according to the rules of their morality, 
no man can merit, by any involuntary action; because, as they 
say, he is compelled and forced to it. How can, then, this no- 
ble people merit, or obtain such graces and indulgences, when 
they do not act voluntarily : for if we mind the pope's expres- 
sion, he compels and forces them to send ten soldiers, or at 
least four. They have no liberty to the contrary, and conse- 
quently they cannot merit by it. 

The Second Article of this Bull. 
The pope compriseth in this command of sending one soldier, 
chapters, parish churches, convents of friars, and monasteries 
of nuns, without excepting the mendicant orders ; but the pope 
in this doth favor the ecclesiastical persons more than the laity, 
for as to the laity, he says, that three or four may join togeth- 
er, and send one soldier ; and as to the ecclesiastical persons, 
he enlarges this to ten persons, that if between them, ten do 
send one soldier, they all, and the person sent by them, obtain 
the said graces. I do believe there is a great injustice done to 
the laity; for these have families to maintain, and the ecclesi- 
astics have not, and the greatest part of the riches are in their 



MASTER-KEY TO TOPERY. 



97 



hands. This I can aver, that I read in the chronicles of the 
Franciscan order, written by Fr. Anthony Perez, of the same 
order, where, extolling and praising the providence of God up- 
on the Franciscan friars, he says, that the general of St. Fran- 
cis's order doth rule and govern continually 600,000 friars in 
Christendom, who having nothing to live upon, God takes rare 
of them, and all are well clothed and maintained. There are 
in the Roman Catholic religion 70 different orders, governed 
by 70 regular generals, who, after six years of command, are 
made either bishops or cardinals. I say this by the by, to let 
the public know the great number of priests and friars, idle 
and needless people in that religion ; for if in one order only 
there are 600,000 friars, how many shall be found in 70 differ- 
ent orders ; I am sure if the pope would command the 50th part 
of them to go to this holy war, the laity would be relieved, the 
king would have a great deal more powerful army, and his do- 
minions would not be so much embroiled with divisions, nor so 
full of vice and debauchery, as they are now. 

The Tldrd Article. 

It is lawful for the priests and friars to go to this war to 
preach the word of God in it, or serve, or help in it, without in- 
curring irregularity. They do preach and encourage the sol- 
diers to kill the enemies of their religion, and to make use of 
whatever means they can for it ; for in so doing there is no 
sin, but a great service done to God. 

Out of this war, if a priest strike another and there is muti- 
lation, or if he encourage another to revenge or murder, he 
incurs irregularity, and he cannot perform any ecclesiastical 
or divine service, till he is absolved by the pope, or his depu- 
ty : But in the war against the enemies of their religion, nay, 
out of the war they advise them to murder them, as I have 
said before, and this without incurring irregularity. O blind- 
ness of heart ! He endeth this article by excusing the soldiers 
from fasting when they are in the army, but not when they 
are out of it; a strange thing that a man should command more 
than God. Our Saviour Jesus Christ commands us to fast from 
gin, not from meat; but more of this in another article. 

The Fourth Article. 
In this article the pope compriseth all the people, and puts 
them upon double charges and expenses, for besides the con- 
tribution for a soldier, every body must take the bull if he will 
obtain the said graces, and must give two reals of plate, i. e* 



MASTER-KEY TO BOPERY. 



thirteen pence half-penny. This is a bitter and hard thing for 
the people : but see how the pope sweetens it. I grant, besides 
the said graces, to all those who should take this bull and give 
the charity under mentioned, that even in the time of suspen- 
sion of divine and ecclesiastical service, they may hear and 
say mass, and other devotions, &c. Charity must be volunta- 
ry to be acceptable to God: How then can he call it charity, 
when the people must pay for the bull, or some of their goods 
shall be sold ? And not only this, but that their corpse cannot 
be buried in sacred ground without it, as is expressed in the 
fifth article.. 

The Sixth Article. 

The pope doth excuse all that take this bull not only from 
fasting, but ; he gives them license to eat flesh in lent by the 
consent of both physicians spiritual and temporal. This is, 
if a man is sick, he must consult the physician, whether he 
may eat flesh or not; and if the physician gives his consent, 
he must ask his father-confessor's consent too, to eat flesh in 
lent and other days of ecclesiastical prohibition. Only a stu- 
pid man will not find out the trick of this granting, for in the 
first place, necessitas caret lege; necessity knows no law : If 
a man is sick, he is excused by the law of God, nay, by the law 
of nature from hurtful things, nay, he is obliged in conscience 
to preserve his health by using ail sorts of lawful means. 
This is a maxim received among the Romans, as well as among 
us. What occasion is there then of the pope's and both physi- 
cians' license to do such a thing? Or if there is such a power 
in the bull, why doth not the pope grant them licence abso- 
lutely, without asking consent of both physicians? We may 
conclude that such people must be blindly superstitious, or 
deeply ignorant. 

But this great privilege must be understood only for the 
laity, not for the secular, nor regular priests, except the car- 
dinals, who are not mentioned here, the knights of the military 
order, and those that are sixty years of age and above. But 
the priests and friars (notwithstanding this express prohibition) 
if they have a mind, evade it on pretence of many light dis- 
tempers, of the assiduity of their studies, or exercise of preach- 
ing the lent's sermons ; and by these and other, as they think, 
weighty reasons, they get a license to eat flesh in lent. So we 
see, that they will preach to the people obedience to all the 
commandments of the pope, and they do disobey them; they 
preach so, because they have private ends and interests in 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



99 



doing,- but they do not observe them themselves, because they 
are against their inclinations, and without any profit, and so 
advising the people to mind them, they do not mind them them- 
selves. 

The Seventh and Eighth Articles, 

To the same, the pope grants fifteen years, and fifteen 
quarantains of pardon, and all the penances not yet performed 
by them, &c. Observe the ignorance of that people : the pope 
grants them fifteen years and fifteen quarantains of pardon 
by this bull, and they are so infatuated that they take it every 
year; indeed they cannot desire more than the free and gen- 
eral pardon of sins; and if they obtain it by one bull for fifteen 
years, and fifteen quarantains, what need or occasion have 
they for a yearly bull ? Perhaps some are so stupid as to think 
to heap up pardons during this life for the next world, or to 
leave them to their children and relations : but observe, like- 
wise, that to obtain this, they must fast for devotion's sake 
some days not prohibited by the church. They really believe, 
that keeping themselves within the rules of ecclesiastical fast- 
ing, they merit a great deal; but God knows, for as they say, 
the merit is grounded in the mortification of the body, and by 
this rule, I will convince them that they cannot merit at all. 

For let us know how they fast, and what, and how they 
eat? Now I will give a true account of their fasting in gen- 
eral; the rules which must be observed in a right fasting are 
these — In the morning, it is allowed by all the casuistical au- 
thors, to drink whatever a body has a mind for, and eat an 
ounce of bread, which they call parva materia, a small matter. 
And as for the drink, they follow the pope's declaration con- 
cerning chocolate. Give me leave to acquaint you with the 
case. 

When the chocolate begun to be introduced, the jesuits' 
opinion was, that being a great nourishment, it could not be 
drunk without breaking fast; but the lovers of it proposing the 
case to the pope, he ordered to be brought to him all the in- 
gredients of which the chocolate is made, which being accord- 
ingly done, the pope drank a cup, and decided the dispute, say- 
ing, potus nonfrangitjejunium: Liquid doth not break fasting, 
which declaration is a maxim put into all their moral sums; and 
by it every body may lawfully drink as many cups as he 
pleases and eat an ounce of bread, as a small matter in the 
morning; and by the same rule any body may drink a bottle 



100 



MASTER-KEY TO POPER1". 



of wine or two, without breaking his fasting; for liquid doth 

not break fasting. 

At noon they may eat as much as they can of all sorts of 
things, except flesh; and at night, it is allowed not to sup, but 
to take something by way of collation : in this point of colla- 
tion, the casuists do not agree together; for some say that no- 
body can lawfully eat but eight ounces of dry and cold things 
as bread, walnuts, raisins, cold fried fishes, and the like. 
Other authors say, that the quantity of this collation, must be 
measured with the constitution of the person who fasts; for if 
the person is of a strong constitution, tall, and of a good appe- 
tite, eight ounces are not enough, and twelve must be allowed 
to such a man, and so of the rest. This is the form of their 
fasting in general : though some few religious and devout per- 
sons eat but one meal a day ; nay, some used to fast twenty-four 
hours without eating any thing ; but this is once in a year, 
which they call a. fast with the bells, that is, in the holy week, 
among other ceremonies, the Roman Catholics put the conse- 
crated host or wafer in a rich urna or box, on Thursday, at 
twelve of the clock in the morning ; and they take it out on 
Friday at the same time ; these twenty-four hours every body 
is in mourning, nay, the altars are veiled, and the monument 
where they place the image of Jesus Christ upon the cross, is 
all covered with black. The bells are not heard all this while ; 
and, as I said, many used to fast with the bells ; and they 
make use of this expression to signify that they fast twenty- 
four hours without eating any thing at all. 

From these we may easily know whether their bodies are 
mortified with fasting or not? For how can a man of sense 
say, that he mortifies his body with fasting, when he drinks 
two or three cups of chocolate, with a small toast in the morn- 
ing, eats as much as he can at dinner, and eight ounces at 
night : Add to this, that he may sit in company and eat a 
crust of bread, and drink as many bottles of wine as he will : 
this is not accounted collation, because liquid doth not break 
fasting. This is the form of their fasting, and the rules they 
must observe in it, and this is reckoned a meritorious work ; 
and therefore doing this, they obtain the said indulgences and 
pardons of this bull. 

Observe likewise, that the Roman Catholics of Spain are 
allowed to eat, in some days, prohibited by the church, and 
especially Saturdays, the following things : The head and 
pluck of a sheep, a cheevelet of a fowl, and the like ; nay, 
they may boil a leg of mutton, and drink the broth of it. This 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



101 



toleration of eating such things was granted by the pope to 
king Ferdinand, who being in a warm war against the Moors, 
the soldiers suffered very much in the days of fasting for 
want of fish, and other tilings eatable for such days ; and for 
this reason the pope granted him and his army license to eat 
the abovementioned things on Saturdays, and other days of 
fasting commanded by the church; and this was in the year 
1479. But this toleration only to the army was introduced 
among the country people, especially in both Old and New 
Castilla, and this custom is become a law among them. But 
this is not so in other provinces of Spain, where the common 
people have not the liberty of eating such things ; among the 
quality only those that have a particular dispensation from 
the pope for them and their families. 

There is an order of friars, called La ordcn de la victoria, 
the order of the victory, whose first founder was St. Francis 
de Paula; and the Friars are prohibited by the rules, statutes 
and constitution of the order, to eat flesh ; nay, this prohibi- 
tion stands in force during their lives, as it is among the Car- 
thusians, who, though in great sickness, cannot eat any thing 
of flesh ; but this must be understood within the convent's 
gate; for when they go abroad they may eat any thing with- 
out trangressing the statute of the order. 

But the pleasantness of their practices will show the tricks 
of that religion. As to the Victorian friars, I knew in Sar- 
agossa, one father Conchillos, professor of divinity in his con- 
vent, learned in their way, but a pleasant companion. He 
was, by his daily exercise of the public lecture, confined to 
his convent every day in the afternoon ; but as soon as the 
lecture was over, his thought and care was to divert himself 
with music, gaming, &c. One evening, having given me 
an invitation to his room, I went accordingly, and there was 
nothing wanting of all sorts of recreation, music, cards, 
comedy, and very good merry company. We went to supper, 
which was composed of nice, delicate, eatable things, both of 
flesh and fish, and for the dessert the best sweatmeats. But 
observing, at supper, that my good Conchillas used to take a 
leg of partridge and go to the window, and come again and 
take a wing of a fowl, and do the same, I asked him whether 
he had some beggar in the street, to whom he threw the leg 
and wing? No, said he to me. What then do you do with 
them out of the window? What, said he; I cannot eat flesh 
within the walls, but the statute of my order doth not forbid 
me to eat it without the walls ; and so, whenever we have a 
i2 



102 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



fancy for it, we may eat flesh, putting our heads out of the 
window. Thus they give a turn to the law, but a turn agree- 
able to them : And so they do in all their fastings,, and absti* 
nences from flesh. 

As to the Carthusians, and their abstinence and fasting, I 
could say a great deal, but am afraid I should swell this trea- 
tise beyond its designed length, if I should amuse you with an 
account of all their ridiculous ways. This I cannot pass by, 
for it conduces very much to clearing this point of abstinence 
and fasting. The order of this constitution is — 

First : A continual abstinence from flesh ; and this is observed 
so severely and strictly, that I knew a friar, who, being dan- 
gerously ill, the physicians ordered to apply, upon his head, a 
young pigeon, opened alive at the breast \ which being propo- 
sed by the prior to the whole community, they were of opin- 
ion that such a remedy was against the constitution, and 
therefore not fit to be used any way: That these poor friars 
must die rather than touch any fleshly thing, though it be for 
the preserving their health. 

Secondly. Perpetual silence and confinement is the next 
precept of Si. Brune, their founder: That is, that the friars 
cannot go abroad out of the convent, or garden walls, only the 
prior and procurator may go upon business of the community. 
The rest of the friars' lives are thus : Each of them has an 
apartment with a room, bed-chamber, kitchen, cellar, closet to 
keep fruit in, a garden, with a well, and a place in it for firing. 
Next to the door of the apartment there is a wheel in the wall, 
which serves to put the victuals in at noon, and at night, and 
the friar turns the wheel, and takes his dinner and supper, and 
in the morning he puts in the wheel the plates, by which the 
servant, that carries the victuals, knows they are in good 
health ; and if he finds the victuals again, he acquaints the fa- 
ther prior with it, who straight goes to visit them. The prior 
hath a master-key of all the rooms, for the friars are obliged 
to lock the door on the inside, and to keep the room always 
shut, except when they go to say mass in the morning, and to 
say the canonical hours in the day time ; then if they meet one 
another, they can say no other words but these: One says, 
Brother, wo must die ; and the other answers, We know it. 
Only on Thursday, between three and four in the afternoon, 
they meet together for an hour's time, and if it be fair weath- 
er, they go to walk in the garden of the convent, and if not, in 
the common hall, where they cannot talk of other things, but 
of the lives of such or such a saint ; and when the hour is over, 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



103 



every one goes to his own chamber. So they observe fasting 
and silence continually, but except flesh, they eat the most ex- 
quisite and delicate things in the world ; for commonly in one 
convent there are but twenty friars, and there is not one con- 
vent of Carthusians, which hath not five, six, and many, twen- 
ty thousand pistoles of yearly rent. 

Such is their fasting from flesh and conversation; but let us 
know their fasting from sins. 

Dr. Peter Bernes, secular priest, belonging to the parish 
church of the blessed Mary Magdalene, (as they do call her,) 
being 32 years of age, and dangerously ill, made a vow to the 
glorious saint, that if he should recover from that sickness, 
he would retire into a Carthusian convent. He recovered, 
and accordingly, renouncing his benefice and the world, he 
took the Carthusian habit, in the convent of the Conception, 
three miles from Saragossa. For the space of three years he 
gave proofs of virtue and singular conformity with the statutes 
of the order. His strict life was so crowded with disciplines 
and mortifications, that the prior gave out, in the city, that he 
was a saint on earth. I went to see him with the father prior's 
consent, and indeed I thought there was something extraor- 
dinary in his countenance, and in his words; and I had taken 
him myself for a man ready to work miracles. Many people 
went to see him, and among the crowd a young woman, ac- 
quainted with him before he took the habit, who unknown to 
the strict friars got into his chamber, and there she was kept 
by the pious father eighteen months. In that time the prior 
used to visit the chamber, but the Senora was kept in the bed- 
chamber, till at last the prior went one night to consult him 
upon some business, and hearing a child cry, asked him what 
was the matter; and though my friend Bernes endeavored to 
conceal the case, the prior found it out ; and she, owning the 
thing, was turned out with the child, and the father was con- 
fined for ever : And this was his virtue, fasting and abstinence 
from flesh, &c. 

To those that either fast in the abovesaid manner, or keep 
fasting for devotion's sake, his holiness grants, (taking this bull 
of crusade) all the said graces, pardons and indulgences ; and 
really, if such graces were of some use or benefit, the people 
thus doing, want them very much; or may be, the pope know- 
ing these practices, doth this out of pity and compassion for 
their souls, without thinking that this bull is a great encour- 
agement and incitement to sin. 



104 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



The Ninth Article. 
This article contains, first, that to pray with more purity, 
every body taking this bull may choose a confessor to his own 
fancy, who is empowered to absolve sins, except the crime of 
heresy, reserved to the pope, or apostolical see. You must 
know what they mean by the crime heresy. Salazar Irribar- 
ren and Corella, treating of the reserved sins, say, that the 
crime of heresy is, viz. : If I am all alone in my room, and the 
door being locked up, talking to myself ; I say, I do not believe 
in God, or in the pope of Rome, this is heresy. They distin- 
guish two sorts of heresies ; one interna, and another externa, 
that is, public and secret. The public heresy, such as that I 
have now told you of, nobody can absolve, but the pope him- 
self. The second being only in thought, every body can ab- 
solve, being licensed by the bishop, by the benefit of this bull. 
So, whoever pronounces the pope is not infallible : the English 
or protestants may be saved : The Virgin Mary is not to be 
prayed to: The priest hath not power to bring down from 
heaven J. C. with five words: Such an one is a public heretic, 
and he must go to Rome, if he desireth to get absolution. 

Secondly. This article contains, that by the benefit of this 
bull, every body may be free from restitution, during his own 
life; and that he may make it by his heirs after his death. O 
what an unnatural thing is this ! What, if I take away from 
my neighbor three hundred pounds, which is all he hath in the 
world to maintain his family, must I be free from this restitu- 
tion, and leave it to my heir's will to make it after my death? 
Must I see my neighbors family suffer by it; and can I be free 
before God, of a thing that God, nature and humanity, require 
of me to do? Indeed this is a diabolical doctrine. Add to this 
what I have said of the bull of composition, that is, if you take 
so many bulls to compound the matter with your confessor, 
you will be free forever from making restitution : But really 
you shall not be free from the eternal punishment. 

Likewise, by the power of this bull, any confessor may 
commute any vow, except those of chastity, religion, and be- 
yond seas : But this is upon condition that they should give 
something for the crusade. O God, what an expression is 
this ! To commute any vow, except those of chastity, &lc. So, 
if I make a' vow to kill a man, if I promise upon oath to rob 
my neighbor, the confessor may fiommute me these vows, for 
sixpence : But if I vow to keep chastity, I must go to Rome, 
to the pope himself. What an expression is this ! I say again, 
how many millions have vowed chastity ? If I say two mil- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



105 



lions, I shall not lie. And how many of these two millions 
observe it? If I say five hundred, I shall not lie. And for all 
this, we see nobody go to Rome for absolution. 

The Roman Catholics will say, that by these words, vow of 
chastity, must be only understood abstaining from marriage ; 
but I will leave it to any man of reason, whether the nature 
of chastity compriseth only that? Or let me ask the Roman 
Catholics, whether a priest, who has made a vow of chastity, 
that is, never to marry, if he commits the sins of the flesh, will 
be accounted chaste or not? They will, and must say, not. 
Then, if so many thousands of priests live lewdly, breaking 
the vow of chastity, why do they not go to the pope for abso- 
lution? To this they never can answer me; therefore the 
pope, in this bull, doth blind them, and the priests do what 
they please, and only the common people are imposed upon, 
and suffer by it. God Almighty, by his infinite power, en- 
lighten them all, that so the priests may be more sincere, and 
the people less darkened. 

The Tenth Article. 
The pope grants the same indulgences to those that should 
die suddenly, if they die heartily sorry for their sins. Of this 
I have spoken already, and said, that if a man dies truly peni- 
tent he hath no occasion for the pope's pardon, for his true pen- 
itence hath more interest (if I may thus express myself) with 
God Almighty, than the pope with all his infallibility. So I 
proceed to the next, which is 

The Eleventh Article. 
In this article the pope grants besides the said indulgences, 
to those that take this bull, that they may twice more in the 
same year be absolved of all their sins, of what nature soever, 
once more during their lives, and once more at the point of 
death. This is a bold saying, and full of assurance, O poor 
blind people! Where have you your eyes or understanding? 
Mind, I pray, for the light of your consciences, this impudent 
way of deceiving you, and go along with me. The pope has 
granted you, in the aforesaid articles, all you can wish for, and 
now again, he grants you a nonsensical privilege, viz. that 
you may twice at the point of death, be absolved of all your 
sins. Observe, passing by, that a simple priest, who hath not 
been licensed by the ordinary to hear confessions, upon urgent 
necessity, i. e. upon the point of death, is allowed by all 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the casuistical authors, nay, by the councils, to absolve all 1 
sins whatsoever, if there be not present another licensed 
priest. Again, nobody can get such an absolution, as is ex- 
pressed in this bull, but at the point of his soul's departing 
from the body, i. e. when there is no hope of recovery; and 
the confessors are so careful in this point, that sometimes, they 
begin to pronounce the absolution, when a man is alive, and 
he is dead before they finish the words. 

Now pray tell me how can a man be twice in such a point? 
And if he got once as much, as he cannot get the second time, 
what occasion hath he for the second full, free, and plenary 
indulgence, and absolution of all his sins ? I must stop here, 
for if I was to tell freely my opinion upon this point, some will 
think I do it out of some private ends; which I never do upon 
delivering matters of fact. 

The Twelfth Article. 

Here the most holy father gives his power and authority to 
the general apostolical commissary of the crusade, and all oth- 
er graces and faculties, to revoke and suspend all the graces 
and indulgences granted in this bull, by his holiness, during 
the year of publishing it; and not only to suspend them upon 
any restriction or limitation, but absolutely/, though this, or any 
other bull, or brief of indulgences, granted by this or other 
popes, did contain words contrary to it, viz: Suppose if Clem- 
ent, or another pope, should say, I grant to such an one such 
faculties, and I anathematize all those that should attempt to 
suspend the said faculties. This last expression would be of 
no force at all, because this bull specifies the contrary. 

So it is a thing very remarkable, that the pope dispossessed 
himself by this bull, of all his power and authority, and giveth 
it to the general apostolical commissary, insomuch that the 
apostolical commissary hath more power than the pope him- 
self, during the year : and this power and authority is renew- 
ed and confirmed to him by his holiness. And not only he 
has this power over the pope, but over all the popes, and their 
briefs,- in whatsoever time granted to any place, or person 
whatsoever. For it is in the apostolical commissary's power 
to suspend all graces and privileges whatsoever, granted since 
the first pope began to grant indulgences, which things are all 
inconsistent with the independency and supremacy of the ho- 
ly father, nay, according to the principles and sentiments of 
their own authors, but we see they are consistent with their 
blindness and ignorance. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



107 



The Thirteenth Article. 
This article showeth us plainly the reason, why the pope 
acts thus in granting of his power to the general apostolical 
commissary of the crusade, for he grants him authority to re- 
voke and suspend all the indulgences here granted by himself 
and other popes, but he grants him the same authority to call 
again the very same indulgences, and to make them good 
again. And next to this power (observe this) he grants him 
and his deputies power to fix and settle the price or charity, 
the people ought to give for the bull. This is the whole mat- 
ter, and we may use the English saying, No cure, no pay, 
quite reverse, No pay, no cure, no indulgence nor pardon of 
sins. The treasure of the church (being a spiritual gift) can- 
not be sold for money, without Simony. And if the Romans 
say that the pope has that power derived from Christ, or giv- 
en gratis to him, let them mind the words : Quod gratis acce- 
pistis, gratis date. If the pope payeth nothing for having 
such power, if he has it gratis, why does he sell it to the faith- 
ful? Can a private man, or his deputy put a price on a spir- 
itual thing? O blindness of heart! 

The Fourteenth Article. 
In this article the general apostolical commissary makes 
use of his power and authority, he says, In favor of this holy 
bull, we do suspend, during the year, all the graces, indulgen- 
ces, and faculties of this, or any other kind, fyc. Though 
they be in favor of the building of Si. Peter's church at Rome. 
Except only from this suspension the privileges granted to the 
superiors of the mendicant orders. He excepts only from this 
suspension the privileges of the four mendicant orders, because 
the friars of those orders, being mendicants or beggars, they 
can be no great hindrance of this project. I ask my coun- 
trymen this question : If Dn. Francis Anthony Ramirez has 
such a power, to do and undo, in despite of the pope, whatev- 
er he pleases for a whole year ; and this power is renewed to 
him every year, by a fresh bull; of what use is the pope in 
Spain? And if he has resigned his authority to Don Ramirez, 
why do they send every year to Rome for privileges, dispen- 
sations, faculties, bulls, &c, and throw their money away? 
If Ramirez has power to stop, and make void any concession 
by the pope, what need have they for so great trouble and ex- 
pense ? Is not this a great stupidity and infatuity ? Observe 
the next article. 



108 



MASTER-KEY to POPERY. 



The Fifteenth Article. 
All those prohibitions and suspensions aforementioned, are 
only to oblige the people to take the bull ; for the general apos- 
tolical commissary says : We declare that all those that take 
this bull, do obtain and enjoy all the graces, and faculties, Sfc. 
which have been granted by the popes Paul the 5th, and TJr- 
banus the Sth, fyc. So if a poor man takes no bull, though he 
be heartily penitent, there is no pardon for him. I say, there 
is no pardon for him from the pope and his commissary, but 
there is surely pardon for him from God; and he is in a better 
way than all the bigots that take the bull, thinking to be free 
by it from all their sins. 

Observe also the last words of this article : We command 
that every body that takes this bull, be obliged to keep by him 
the same, which is here printed, signed and sealed with, our 
name and seal; and that otherwise they cannot obtain, nor en- 
joy the benefit of the said bull. This is a cheat, robbery, and 
roguery ; for the design of the general apostolical commissary 
is, to oblige them to take another bull. The custom is, that 
when they take every year a new bull, they ought to show the 
old one, or else they must take two that year. Now let us 
suppose that all the contents of the bull are as efficacious as 
the bigots do believe them to be. A man takes the bull, pays 
for it, and performs and fulfilleth the contents of it. Is not this 
enough to enjoy all the graces, &c? What is the meaning 
then of commanding to keep the same bull by them, but a 
cheat, robbery, and roguery ? I do not desire better proof of 
this than what the commissary affords me in his following 
words, by which he contradicts himself. He says, and where- 
as you (speaking with Peter Dezuloaga, who was the man 
that took the bull which was left at the publisher's shop) have 
given two reals of plate, and have taken this bull, and your 
name is written in it, we declare that you have already obtain- 
ed and are granted the said indulgences, S$c. And that you 
may enjoy and make use of them, S$c. 

If he has already obtained all, of what use may it be to keep 
the bull by him? How can the commissary make these ex- 
pressions agree together? 1st. If he doth not keep the bullby 
him, he cannot enjoy the benefit of the bull. 2d. As soon as 
he takes it, he has already obtained all the graces, fyc,, and 
enjoys the benefit of the bull. These are two quite contrary 
things. Then the design in the first is robbery and roguery, 
and in the second,, cheat, fraud, and deceit. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



109 



Reflect again : Whereas you have taken the bull and paid 
for it, you have already obtained all the indulgences and par- 
don of sins. By this declaration, infallible to the Romans, let 
a man come from committing murder, adultery, sacrilege, &c. 
if he takes and pays for the bull, his sins are already pardon- 
ed. Is not this a scandalous presumption? If a man is in a 
state of sin, and has no repentance in his heart, how can such 
a man be pardoned at so cheap a rate as two reals of plate ? 
If this was sure and certain, the whole world would embrace 
their religion, for they then would be sure of their salvation. 
Again, if they believe this bull to be true, how can they doubt 
of their going to heaven immediately after death ? For a man, 
whose sins are pardoned, goes straightway to heaven ; so if 
the sins of all men and women (for every body takes the bull) 
are pardoned by it, and consequently go to heaven, why do 
they set up a purgatory? or why are they afraid of hell? 

Let us say, that we may suspect, that this bull sends more 
people into hell, than it can save from it; for it is the greatest 
encouragement to sin in the world. A man says, I may satisfy 
my lusts and passions, I may commit all wickedness, and yet 
I am sure to be pardoned of all, by the taking of this bull for 
two reals of plate. By the same rule, their consciences can- 
not be under any remorse nor trouble, for if a man commits a 
great sin, he goes to confess, he gets absolution, he has by 
him this bull, or permission to sin, and his conscience is at 
perfect ease, insomuch that after he gets absolution, he may 
go and commit new sins, and go again for absolution. 

If we press with these reflections and arguments the Ro- 
man catholic priests, especially those of good sense, they will 
answer that they do not believe any such thing; for if a man 
(say they) doth not repent truly of his sins, he is not pardon- 
ed by God, though he be absolved by the confessor. Well, if 
it be so, why does the pope, by his general apostolical commis- 
sary, say, Whereas you have taken and paid for this bull, 
you have already obtained pardon for your sins, fyc. We 
must come then to say, that the cheat, fraud, and deceit is in 
the pope, and that Don Ramirez is the pope's instrument to im- 
pose so grossly upon the poor Spaniards, The confessor grants 
free and full indulgence and pardon of all sins, and of all the 
pains and punishments which the penitent was obliged to en- 
dure for them in purgatory. By virtue of this absolution then, 
we may say, no soul goes to purgatory especially out of the 
dominions of the king of Spain, for as I said, in the beginning 
of the explanation of the bull, every living soul, from seven 

K 



110 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



years of age and upwards, is obliged to take the bull, and con- 
sequently, if every soul obtains the grant of being pardoned of 
all the pains which they were to endure and suffer in purgato- 
ry, all go to heaven. Why do the priests ask masses, and say 
them for the relief of the souls in purgatory. 

Let us from these proceed to the sum of the estations and 
indulgences granted to the city of Rome, which the pope 
grants likewise to all those that take the bull, and fulfil the 
contents of it. 

Estations, in this place, signify the going from one church 
to another, in remembrance of Christ's being, or remaining so 
long on Mount Calvary, so long in the garden, so long on the 
cross, so long in the sepulchre. 

We call also estations, or to walk the estations, to go from 
the first cross to the mount Calvary, &c. This is a new thing 
to many of this kingdom, therefore, a plain account of that cus- 
tom among the Romans, will not be amiss in this place. 

There is in every city, town and village, a mount Calvary 
out of the gates, in remembrance of the Calvary where our 
Saviour was crucified. There are fourteen crosses placed at 
a distance one from another. The first cross is out of the 
gates, and from the first to the second, the Romans reckon so 
many steps or paces, more or lejis from the second to the third, 
and so on from one to anothe^of the remaining, till they come 
to the twelfth cross, which is in the middle of two crosses, which 
represent two crosses which the two malefactors were crucified 
on each side of Christ. They walk these twelve estations in 
remembrance of all the steps and paces our Saviour walked 
from the gates of the city of Jerusalem to mount Calvary, 
where he was crucified. In the first estation, you will see the 
image of Jesus, with the cross on his shoulders, in the second, 
falling down, &c. In the last cross, our last estation of the 
three crosses, Jesus is represented crucified between two mal- 
efactors. 

Every Friday in the year, the devout people walk the esta- 
tions, and kneel down before every cross, and say so many 
■pater nosters, &c, and a prayer for the meditation of what 
did happen to our Jesus at that distance. When the weather 
hinders the people from going to the great Calvary, they have 
another in every church, and in the cloisters of the convents, 
and monasteries, and they walk the estations there, and espe- 
cially in lent, there is such a crowd of people every Friday in 
the afternoon, that there is scarcely room enough in the high- 
way for all to kneel down. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Ill 



On good Friday in the evening, is the great procession, at 
which almost all the people assist with lanterns in their hands. 
The people, both men and women, old and young, go to church 
in the afternoon. The parish minister,, dressed in a surplice y 
and a sacerdotal cloak on, and a square black cap on his head y 
and the rest of the clergy in their surplices, and the reverend 
father preacher in his habit. This last begins a short exhort- 
ation to the people, recommending to them devotion^ humility, 
and meditation of our Saviour's sufferings • after he has done, 
the prior of the fraternity of the blood of Christ, ordereth the 
procession in this manner : First of all, at the head of it, a man 
in a surplice, carrieth the cross of the parish, and two boys on 
each side, with two high lanterns, immediately after begins the 
first estation of our Saviour, painted in a standard, which one 
of-the fraternity carrieth, and the brethren of that estation 
follow him in two lines : and the twelve estations ordered in 
the same manner, follow one another. After the estations, 
there is a man representing Jesus Christ, dressed in a Tunica 
or a Nazarine's gown, with a crown of thorns on his head, that 
carrieth on his shoulders a long, heavy cross, and another man, 
representing Simon, of Cirene, behind helps the Nazarine to 
carry the Cross. After him the preacher, clergy, and parish 
minister, and after them all the people, without keeping any 
form or order. Thus the procession goes out of the church, 
singing a proper song of the passion of Jesus ; and when they 
come to the first cross of the estations of Calvary, the proces- 
sion stops there, and the preacher makes an exhortation, and 
tells what our Saviour did suffer till that first step, and making 
the same exhortations in each of the eleven crosses ; when 
they come at the twelfth, the preacher, on the foot of the cross 
which is placed between the two crosses of the malefactors, 
begins the sermon of the passion and sufferings of Christ, and 
when he has done, the procession comes back again to the 
church, and there the preacher dismisses the people with an 
act of contrition, which the people repeat after him. 

These are the estations of the holy Calvary ; but besides 
these the estations of the holy sepulchre ; that is, to visit seven 
churches, or seven times one church, on holy Thursday, when 
Jesus is in the monument,- — but of these things I shall treat in 
another place. 

Now, by these foregoing indulgences, and full pardon of 
sins, the pope does not grant to all those that take the bull, and 
fulfil the contents of it (which are only to pay for it) any body 
may easily know a list of the days in which any one that visits 



112 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the churches mentioned in it enjoys at Rome all the aforesaid 
faculties, pardon of sins, and indulgences, and as you may ob- 
serve, at the end of the summario, that every day of the year, 
there are, at Rome, many indulgences and pardons granted in 
some church or other, to all those that go to visit them. So by 
the grant of the pope, in the bull of Crusade, the same indul- 
gences and pardons are given, and in the same day) that is 
every day of the year) to all those that take the bull. From 
this any body may draw the same consequence as before, that 
a man cannot be afraid in the Romish church, to go to hell ; he 
may commit every day all villanies in the world, and yet 
every day, having the bull, is sure of getting free and full 
pardon of his sins, and this without the trouble of going to con- 
fess : for if they will take the pains to read the contents of the 
bull, with a serious mind, they will find the truth of what I say, 
That without the trouble of confessing sins, any body obtains 
full pardon of all the crimes he has committed. 

For the general apostolical commissary, (who has the pope's 
power and authority) says, that he that takes the bull, payeth 
for it, and writes his name in it, ipso facto, i. e. already ob- 
tains all the indulgences and pardon of sins,&c. mentioned in 
the bull ; and he does not say, If he confess, or, if he be a hearty 
penitent; but already, without any limitation or reservation, 
already he enjoys all, and may make use of all the graces, Sfc. 
So, by these expressions, it appears, that a man, taking the 
bull, paying for it, and writing his name in it, may commit 
murder and robbery, &c. and yet obtain every day free and 
full pardon of his sins, without the trouble of confessing them 
to a priest, who, if covetous, will ask money for absolution, or 
money for masses, for the relief of the souls in purgatory. 

This I must own of my country people, that they are kept 
in so great ignorance by the priests, that I might dare to say. 
that not one of a thousand that takes the bull, reads it, but 
blindly submits to what the minister of the parish tells him, 
without further inquiry. This is a surprising thing to all the 
protestants ; and it is now to me, but I can give no other rea- 
sons for their ignorance in point of religion, as for the gen- 
erality, but their bigotry, and blind faith in what the preachers 
and priests tell them; and, next to this, that it is not allowed 
to them to read the scripture, nor books of controversy about 
religion. 

I come now to the days in which every body takes a soul out 
of purgatory. Observe those marked with a star, and besides 
them, there is in every convent and parish church, at least, 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



113 



one privileged altar, i. e. any body that says five times Pater 
Noster, &c, and five times, Ave Maria, with Gloria Patria, 
&c., takes a soul out of purgatory, and this at any time and in 
any day of the year, and not only in Spain, by the virtue of the 
bull, but in France, Germany, Italy, and in all the Roman 
Catholic countries where they have no bull of Crusade. From 
this, I say, that if there is a purgatory, it must be an empty 
place, or that it is impossible to find there any soul at all, and 
that the Roman Catholics take every year more souls out of it, 
than can go into it; which I shall endeavor to prove by evi- 
dent arguments, grounded on their principles and belief. 

For, first of all, there is in the bull nine days in the year in 
which every living person takes a soul out of purgatory, and 
by this undeniable truth among themselves, it appears that 
every living person, man, woman, or child, from seven years 
of age and upwards, takes every year nine souls out of pur- 
gatory. 

Secondly. Every body knows the Roman Catholic's opinion, 
that nobody can be saved out of their communion ; and by this 
infallible (as they believe) principle, they do not allow any 
place in purgatory to the souls of protestants, and other people 
of other professions ; and so only Roman Catholic souls are 
the proprietors of that place of torment. 

Thirdly. It is undeniable, by the Romans, that ever since 
the place of purgatory was built up by the popes and councils, 
the Roman catholics have enjoyed the granting of a privileged 
altar in every church, that, by their prayers, the souls of their 
parents or friends may be relieved and delivered out of that 
place. 

Fourthly. That to this granting, the popes have been so 
generous, that they have granted, in such days, special priv- 
ileges to some churches, for all those that should visit them, 
to take souls out of purgatory. 

Fifthly. That all the prayers said before such altars for 
such a soul in purgatory, if the soul is out of it when the person 
says the prayers, those prayers go to the treasure of the 
church; and by this opinion, undeniable by them, the treasury 
of the church is well stocked with prayers, and when the pope 
has a mind to grant, at once, a million of prayers, he may 
take a million of souls out of purgatory. 

These five principles and observations are incontestable by 
any of the Roman catholics. Now let us compute the num- 
ber of Roman catholics that are alive, and the number of the 
dead everv year. I say, compute, that is, suppose a certain 
k2 



114 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



number of the living and of the dead every year, And I begin 
with the kingdom of Spain, and its dominions, as the only par- 
takers of the privileges granted in the bull of Crusade. 

First. Let us suppose, that in the whole dominions of Spain, 
there are about six millions of living persons ; I speak of the 
Roman catholics : and that three millions of those catholics die 
every year; and that all their souls go to purgatory; for though 
the supposition is disadvantageous to my purpose, I will allow 
them more than they can expect. In the first place, by rea- 
sonable computation, half of the living persons do not die every 
year : but I suppose this, to make my argument so much the 
stronger. Secondly. In their opinion, very many of the souls 
of those that die, go to heaven, and some to hell, which is con- 
trary to the bull. By this computation, the three millions of 
people that remain alive, by the bull, take out of purgatory, 
seven and twenty millions of souls that very year. For there 
are nine days, in the bull fixed, on which every living person 
takes one soul out of purgatory ; if then, only three millions of 
people die annually, how can the three remaining alive take 
out twenty-seven millions, it being impossible that there should 
be more than three millions of souls in purgatory that year. 
And besides this plain demonstration, and besides the nine 
days appointed in the bull, according to their belief, and every 
day in the year, and, toties quoties, they pray at a privileged 
altar, they take out of purgatory that soul for which they pray, 
or if that soul is not in purgatory, any other which they have 
a mind for, or else the prayer goes to the treasure of the 
church: and so, by this addition, we may say, that if, out of 
three millions of living persons, only half a million of people 
pray every day ; this half million take out of purgatory, year- 
ly, one hundred and eighty-two millions and a half of souls. 
If they scruple this number, let them fix any other living per- 
sons, and then multiply nine times more the number of souls 
delivered out of purgatory every year, by virtue of the nine 
days mentioned in the bull ; or by the privileged altars, mul- 
tiply one to three hundred sixty-five souls delivered out of the 
flames every year, by every living person, as I shall demon- 
strate more plainly hereafter. 

As for France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and other Roman 
catholic countries, as I said before, they have their privileged 
altars to take a soul out of purgatory, toties quoties, a Roman 
says so many pater nosters, and ave marias before them. 
And so use the same multiplication to convince them, that there 
cannot be so many souls in purgatory as they deliver out of 



MASTER-KEY TO TOPERY. 



115 



it every year, or that purgatory of course, must be an empty 
place, &,c. 

If they answer to this strong reason, that we must suppose 
for certain, that the souls of many millions of people, for many 
years past, are in purgatory, and that there is stock enough 
taken out of it every year, if there were ten times more living 
persons than there are now in the Roman Catholic countries ; I 
say, that the supposition has no room at all, and that it is im- 
possible ; for let us begin at the time w r hen purgatory was first 
found out by the pope, and let us suppose, gratis, that there is 
such a place, which we deny. 

The first year that that imaginary place was settled among 
the Romans, the very same year the privileged altars were in 
fashion. The people that were left alive that year took out 
all the souls of the persons dead the same year, and more 
too, for as the new privilege w^as granted them ; every body was 
more charitable in taking the souls of his relations and friends 
out of sufferings at so cheap a rate as five pater nosters, &c. 
The next year the same, and so on, year by year, till this 
present time, so that it is impossible to believe that there are a 
greater number of souls than of persons dead. 

I say again, that by these principles, sure among the Ro- 
mans, the catholics only of Spain, and all the dominions be- 
longing to it, are enough to deliver out of purgatory all the 
souls of all the catholics dead, from the begining of the world 
in Christendom. If what they believe were certain, it should 
be certain too, that since the bull is granted to the catholic 
kings and their dominions, which is since the reign of king 
Ferdinand, the catholic, - lly the Spaniards have delivered out 
of purgatory more souls man persons have died since the 
universal floo. i : for every living person, from that time till this 
present day, has taken out of purgatory, every year, 365 
souls by the privilege:.; altars, and nine more by virtue of the 
bull. Now I leave to me curious reader to make use of the 
rule of multiplication, and he will find clear demonstrations of 
my saying. I do not talk now of those innumerable souls that 
are freed from this ;^lcxe every day of the year by the masses, 
leaving this for another place. 

Indeed I have searched among the sophistries of the Roman 
catholics, to see whether I could find some reason or answer 
to this: and I protest, I could not find any; for as lam sure, 
they will endeavor to cloud this work with gx mindless subter- 
fuges and sophistries, I was willing to prevent all sorts of 
objections, which may be made by them. Only one answer, 



116 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERr. 



which I may believe they will give me, comes now into my 
head, and it is this, that as the Romans cannot answer any 
thing contrary to my demonstration, it is to be feared that they 
will say, that I reason and argue as an ignorant, because Ida 
not know that the souls in purgatory are fruitful beings, that 
one produces a great many little ones every year, I say, it is 
to be feared, that being pressed, they must come at last to such 
nonsensical, fantastical, dreaming reasons, to answer to this 
urgent argument. So we may safely conclude, and with a 
Christian confidence say, that if there is such a place as pur- 
gatory, it must be an empty place, or that it is impossible to 
find there any souls, or that the Roman catholics take every 
year more souls out of it, than can go into it : all which, being 
against the evidence of natural reason, and computation made, 
it is a dream, fiction, or to say the truth, roguery, robbery, and 
a cheat of the pope and priests. As for the pope, (if the re- 
port in the public news be true,) I must beg leave to except 
for a while this present pope, who, in his behaviour, makes 
himself the exception of the rule. I say, for a while, for by 
several instances, (as I shall speak of in the third part,) ma- 
ny popes have had a good beginning, and a very bad end. 
God enlighten him with his holy spirit, that he may bring in all 
papist countries to our reformation. And I pray God Al- 
mighty, from the bottom of my heart, to give to all the Romans 
such a light as his infinite goodness has been pleased to grant 
me ; and that all my country people, and all those that call 
themselves Roman catholics, would make the same use of 
that light which I have endeavored to make use of myself, to 
know the corruptions of their church, and to renounce them 
with as firm and hearty resolution as I have done myself: 
And I pray God, who is to be my judge, to continue in me 
the same light, and his grace, that I may live and die in the 
religion I have embraced, and to give me the desired comfort 
of my heart, which is to see many of my beloved country 
people come and enjoy the quietness of mind and conscience 
which I enjoy, as to this point of religion, and way of salva- 
tion ; and I wish I could prevail with them to read the bull, 
which, they believe, is the sancto sanctorum, the passport to 
heaven ; and I am sure they would find the contrary, and see 
that it is only a dream, a dose of opium to lull them asleep, 
and keep them always ignorant. That Almighty God may 
grant them and me too all these things, is my constant prayer 
to Him, 



PART III. 



A practical account of their Masses, Privileged Altars, Transubstantiation, 
and Purgatory. 

I comprise all the four heads in one chapter, because there is a near relation 
between them all, though I shall speak of them separately, and as distinct 
articles. 

ARTICLE I. 

Of their Masses. 

The Mass for priests and friars is better, and has greater 
power and virtue than the loadstone, for this only draws iron, 
but that allures and gets to them silver, gold, precious stones, 
and all sorts of fruits of the earth j therefore it is proper to give 
a description of every thing the priests make use of to render 
the mass the most magnificent and respectful thing in the 
world, in the eyes of the people. 

The priest every morning, after he has examined his con- 
science, and confessed his sins, (which they call reconcilia- 
tion,) goes to the vestry and washes his hands ; afterwards, 
he kneels down before an image of the crucifix, which is 
placed on the draws, where the ornaments are kept, and says 
several prayers and psalms, written in a book, called prepara- 
terium. When the priest has done, he gets up, and goes to 
dress himself, all the ornaments being ready upon the draws, 
which are like the table of an altar; then he takes the Ambito, 
which is like an Holland handkerchief, and kissing the mid- 
dle of it, puts it round about his neck, and says a short prayer. 
After he takes the Aha, which is a long surplice with narrow 
sleeves, laced round about with fine lace, and says another 
prayer while he puts it on. The clerk is always behind to 
help him. Then he takes the Cingulum, i. e. the girdle, and 
says a prayer; after he takes the Stola, which is a long list 
of silk, with a cross in the middle, and two crosses at the ends 
of it, and says another prayer while he puts it on his 
neck, and crosses it before his breast, and ties it with the ends 
of the girdle. After he takes the Manipulum, i. e. a short 
list of the same silk, with as many crosses in it, and ties it on 

117 



118 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the left arm, saying a short prayer. Then he takes the 
Casulla, i. e. a sort of a dress made of three yards of silk 
stuff, a yard wide behind, and something narrower before, 
with a hole in the middle, to put his head through it. After 
he is thus dressed, he goes to the corner of the table, and 
taking the chalice, cleans it with a little Holland towel, with 
which the chalice's mouth is covered; after he puts a large 
host on the patena, i. e. a small silver plate gilt, which serves 
to cover the chalice, and puts on the host a neat piece of fine 
holland laced all over. Then he covers all with a piece of 
silk, three quarters of a yard in square. After he examines 
the corporales, i. e. two pieces of fine, well-starched holland, 
with lace round about ; the first is three quarters of a yard 
square, and the second half a yard; and folding them both, puts 
them in a flat cover, which he puts on the chalice, and taking a 
squared cap, if he is a secular priest, puts it on his head, and 
having the chalice in his hands, makes a great bow to the cru- 
cifix, says a prayer, and goes out of the vestry to the altar, 
where he designs to say mass. This is, as to the private mass. 
Now before I proceed to the great mass, which is always sung, 
it is fit to talk of the riches of their ornaments. 

As in the Romish church are several festivals, viz. those of 
our Saviour Christ, Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Eas- 
ter, Ascension, Pentecostes, and Transfiguration : Those of 
the Holy Cross ; those of the blessed Virgin Mary; those of 
the angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, &c. So there 
are several sorts of ornaments, and of divers colors; white for 
all the festivals of Jesus Christ, except pentecostes, in which 
the ornaments are red ; white also for the festivals of the Vir- 
gin Mary, confessors, and virgins; red for martyrs ; violet color 
for advent and lent; and black for the masses of the dead. 

The same rule is observed in the front of the altar's table, 
or ara altaris, which are always adorned with hangings the 
color of the day's festivals. In every parish church and con- 
vent, there are many ornaments of each of the said colors, all 
of the richest silks, with silver, gold and embroidery. There 
are many long cloaks or palia of all sorts of colors, several 
dozens of alvas, or surplices of the finest holland, with the 
finest laces round about them, chalice of silver, the inside of 
the cup gilt, many of gold, and many of gold set with dia- 
monds and precious stones. There is one in the cathedral 
of St. Salvator, in the city of Saragossa, which weighs five 
pounds of gold, set all over with diamonds, and is valued 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



119 



at 15,000 crowns, and this is not accounted an extraor- 
dinary one. 

A possenet of silver, gilt all over, to keep the holy water 
and hysop, with a silver handle, to be used in holy days at 
church, is an indispensable thing almost in every church; as 
also two big candlesticks four feet high, for the two accolits or 
assistants to the great mass. In several churches there are 
two ciriales, i. e. big candlesticks five feet high all of silver, 
which weigh two hundred pounds in some churches, and ano- 
ther bigger than these for the blessed candle on candlemas 
day. Six other middle silver candlesticks, which serve on 
the ara or altar's table, silver, and (in many churches) gold 
bottles and plate to keep the water and wine that is used in 
the mass, a small silver bell for the same use, an incensary, 
and stand for the missal or mass-book, and another stand of 
silver two feet high, for the deacon and sub-deacon to read on 
it the epistle and gospel. 

There is also in the great altar, the custodia, i. e. a figure 
of the sun and beams made of gold, and many of them set 
with precious stones to keep in the centre of it the great con- 
secrated host, in the middle of two crystals : The foot of the 
custodia is made of the same metal ; it is kept in a gilt taber- 
nacle, and shown to the people on several occasions, as I will 
mention in another place. 

Besides this rich custodia, there is a large silver or gold cup 
kept in the same, or another tabernacle on another altar, 
which is to keep the small consecrated wafers for the commu- 
nicants. Before those tabernacles a silver lamp is burning 
night and day. The altars are adorned on several festivals 
with the silver bodies of several saints, some as large as a 
man, some half bodies with crowns or mitres set with precious 
stones. 

I could name several churches and convents, where I saw 
many rarities and abundance of rich ornaments, but this being 
a thing generally known by the private accounts of many 
travellers, I shall only give a description of the rarities and 
riches of the church of the lady del Pilar, and that of St. Sal- 
vator, in the city of Saragossa ; because I never met with any 
book which did mention them, and the reason, as I believe, is, 
because foreigners do not travel much in Spain, for want of 
good conveniences on the roads, and for the dismal journey in 
which they cannot see a house, sometimes in twenty miles, 
and sometimes in thirty. 

In the Cathedral church of St. Salvator, there are forty-five 



120 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



prebendaries, besides the dean, arch-deacon, chanter, and six- 
ty-six beneficiates, six priests and a master, and twelve boys 
for the music, and sixty clerks and under clerks, and sextons. 
The church contains thirty chapels, large and small, and the 
great altar, thirty feet high and ten broad, all of marble stone, 
with many bodies of saints of the same, and in the middle of 
it the transfiguration of our Saviour in the mount Tabor, with 
the apostles all represented in marble figures. The front of 
the altar's table is made of solid silver, the frame gilt, and 
adorned with precious stones. In the treasure of the -church 
they keep sixteen bodies of saints of pure silver, among which, 
that of St. Peter Argues, (who was a prebendary in the same 
church, and was murdered by the Saracens,) is adorned with 
rich stones of a great value. Besides these they keep twelve 
half silver bodies of other saints, and many relics set with gold 
and diamonds. Forty-eight silver candlesticks for the altar's 
table, two large ones, and the third for the blessed candle, 300 
pound weight each : thirty-six small silver candlesticks; and 
six made of solid gold for the great festivals. Four possenets 
of silver, two of solid gold, with the handles of hysops of the 
same. Two large crosses, one of silver, the other of gold, ten 
feet high, to carry before the processions. Ten thousand oun- 
ces of silver in plate, part of gilt, to adorn the two corners of 
the altar on great festivals, and when the archbishop officiates, 
and says the great mass. Thirty-three silver lamps, of which 
the smallest is an hundred and fifty pounds weight, and the 
largest, which is before the great altar, gilt all over, is six 
hundred and thirty pounds weight. Abundance of rich orna- 
ments for priests, of inexpressible value. Eighty-four chali- 
ces, twenty of pure gold, and sixty-four of silver, gilt on the 
inside of the cup; and the rich chalice, which only the arch- 
bishop makes use of in his pontifical dress. 

All these things are but trifles in comparison with the great 
custodia they make use of to carry the great host through the 
streets on the festival of Corpus Christi: This was a present 
made to the cathedral by the Archbishop of Sevil, who had 
been prebendary of that church before. The circumference 
of the sun and beams is as big as the wheel of a coach ; at the 
end of each beam there is a star. The centre of the sun, 
where the great host is placed between two crystals, set with 
large diamonds ; the beams are all of solid gold set with seve- 
ral precious stones, and in the middle of each star, a rich em- 
erald set in gold. The crystal with the great host is fixed in 
the mouth of the rich chalice, on a pedestal of silver, all gilt 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



121 



over which is three feel high. The whole custodia is five 
hundred pounds weight; and this is placed on a gilt base, 
which is carried by twelve priests, as I shall tell you in another 
article. Several goldsmiths have endeavored to value this 
piece, but nobody could set a certain sum upon it. One said 
that a million of pistoles was too little. And how the arch- 
bishop could gather together so many precious stones, every 
body was surprised at, till we heard that a brother of his grace 
died in Peru, and left him great sums of money, and a vast 
quantity of diamonds and precious stones. 

I come now to speak of the treasure and rarities of the La- 
dy del Puar. In the church of this lady is the same number 
of prebendaries and beneficiates, musicians, clerks, and sex- 
tons, as in the catholic Church of St. Salvator, and as to the 
ornaments and silver plate, they are very much the same, ex- 
cept only that of the great custodia, which is not so rich. 
But as to the chapel of the blessed Virgin, there is, without 
comparison, more in it than in the cathedral. I shall treat of 
the image in another chapter. Now as to her riches, I will 
give you an account as far as I remember, for it is impossible 
for every thing to be kept in the memory of man. 

In the little chapel, where the image is on a pillar, are four 
angels, as large and tall as a man, with a big candlestick, 
each of which is made wholly of silver gilt. The front of two 
altars is solid silver, with gilt frames, set with rich stones. Be- 
fore the image there is a lamp, (as they call it,) a spider of 
crystal, in which twelve wax candles burn night and day : The 
several parts of the spider are set with gold and diamonds, 
which was a present made to the Virgin by Don John, of Aus- 
tria, who also left her in his last will, his own heart, which ac- 
cordingly was brought to her, and is kept in a gold box set 
with large diamonds, and which hangs before the image. 
There is a thick grate round about the little chapel, of solid 
silver : Next to this is another chapel to say mass in before 
the image ; and the altar-piece of it is all made of silver, from 
the top to the altar's table, which is of jasper stone, and the 
front of silver, with the frame gilt, set with precious stones. 
The rich crown of the Virgin is twenty-five pounds weight, set 
all over with large diamonds. Besides this rich one, she has 
six pounds more of pure gold, set with rich diamonds and em- 
eralds, the smallest of which is worth half a million. 

The roses of diamonds and other precious stones she has 
to adorn her mantle, are innumerable ; for though she is dres- 
sed every day in the color of the church's festival, and never 

L 



122 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



uses twice the same mantle, which is of the best stuff, em- 
broidered with gold ; she has new roses of precious stones, ev- 
ery day for three years together; she has three hundred and 
sixty-five necklaces of pearls and diamonds, and six chains of 
gold set with diamonds, which are put on her mantle on the 
great festivals of Christ. 

In the room of her treasure are innumerable heads, arms, 
legs, eyes, and hands, made of gold and silver, presented to 
her by the people, which have been cured as they believe, by 
miracle, through the Virgin's divine power and intercessions. 
In this second chapel are one hundred and ninty-five silver 
lamps, in three lines, one over the other. The lamps of the 
lowest rank are bigger than those of the second, and these are 
bigger than those of the third. The five lamps facing the im- 
age are about five hundred pounds weight each, the sixty of 
the same line four hundred pounds weight, and those of the 
third line, one hundred pounds weight. Those of the second 
line are two hundred pounds weight. There is the image of 
the Virgin in the treasure, made in the shape of a woman five 
feet high, all of pure silver, set with precious stones, and a 
crown of gold set with diamonds, and this image is to be car- 
ried in a public procession the days appointed. I will speak 
of the miraculous image in the following chapter. 

I remember that when the Rt. Hon. Lord Stanhope, then 
General of the English forces, was in Saragossa, after the bat- 
tle, he went to see the treasure of the lady of Pilar, which was 
shown to him, and I heard him say these words : If all the 
kings of Europe should gather together all their treasures and 
precious stones, they could not buy half of the riches of thu 
treasury. And by this expression of so wise and experienced 
a man, every body may judge of the value. 

After this short account of the ornaments to be used at mass, 
and the incomparable treasures of the Romish church, I pro- 
ceed to a description of the great or high masses, their ceremo- 
nies, and of all the motions and gestures the priests make in 
the celebration of a mass. 

Besides the priest, there must be a deacon, subdeacon, two 
acoliti, i. e. two to carry the large candlesticks before the 
priest, and one to carry the incensary. The incenser helps 
the priest when he dresses himself in the vestry, and the two 
acoliti help the deacon and subdeacon. When all three are 
dressed, the incenser and the two acoliti in their surplices, and 
large collars round about their necks, made of the same stuff 
as that of the priest's casulla, and deacon and subdeacon's al- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPE3Y. 



123 



matices, i. e. a sort of earulla, with open sleeves, I say, the 
incenser puts fire in the incensary, and the acoliti takes the 
candlesticks with the wax candles lighted, and the subdeacon 
takes the chalice and corporals, and so making a bow to the 
crucifix in the vestry, they go out into the church to the great 
altar. There are commonly three steps to go up to the altar, 
and the priest and five assistants kneel down at the first step, 
then leaving the incense and acoliti to stay there, the priest, 
deacon and subdeacon go up to the altar's table, and all kneel 
down there again. The subdeacon leaves the chalice on a lit- 
tle table next to the altar's table at the right hand, and then 
they turn back again to the highest step, and kneeling down 
again, the priest, deacon, and subdeacon get up, leaving the 
incenser and acoliti on their knees, and begin the mass by a 
psalm, and after it the priest says the general confession of 
sins, to which the deacon and subdeacon answer, Misereatur 
tui, fyc. Then they say the general confession themselves, 
and after it the priest absolves them, and saying another psalm, 
they go up again to the altar's table, which the priest kisses, 
and he and the two assistants kneel down, and rise again. 
Then the incenser brings the incensary and incense, and the 
priest puts in three spoonsful] of it, and taking the incensary 
from the deacon's hands, he incenses three times the taberna- 
cle of the Eucharistia, and goes twice to each side of it, he 
kneels down then, and the deacon takes up the hem of the 
priest's casulla, and so goes from the middle of the altar to 
the right corner, incensing the table, and returning from the 
comer to the middle, then kneels down and gets up, and goes 
to the left corner, and from the left goes again to the right cor- 
ner, and giving the incensary to the deacon, he incenses three 
times the priest, and gives the incensary to the incenser, and 
this incenses twice the deacon. The assistants always follow 
the priest, making the motions that he does. 

The incenser has the missal or mass-book ready on the altar's 
table at the right corner, and so the priest begins the psalm of 
the mass : all this while the musicians are singing the begin- 
ning of the mass till kyrie eleijon; and when they have fin- 
ished, the priest sings these three words : Gloria in excelsis 
deo. And the musicians sing the rest. While they are sing- 
ing, the priest, deacon, and subdeacon, making a bow to the 
tabernacle, go to sit on three rich chairs at the right hand of 
the ara or altar's table ; and as soon as the music has ended 
the gloria, they go to the middle of the table, kneel down, and 
get up, and the priest kissing the table turns to the people, 



124 



MASTEK-KEY TO POPERY. 



opening his arms, and says, in Latin, The Lord be with yow, 
to which, and all other expressions the music and the people 
answer; then turns again his face to the altar, kneels down, 
gets up, and the assistants doing the same, the priest goes to 
the right corner, and says the collect for the day, and two, or 
sometimes five or six prayers in commemoration of the saints; 
and last of all, a prayer for the pope, king and bishop of the 
diocess, against heretics, infidels and enemies of their religion, 
or the holy catholic faith. 

Then the subdeacon, taking the book of the epistles and 
gospels, goes down to the lowest step, and sings the epistle, 
which ended, he goes up to the priest, kisses his hand, leaves 
the book of the gospels on the little table, takes the missal or 
mass-book, and carries it to the left corner. Then the priest 
goes to the middle, kneels down, kisses the altar, says a prayer, 
and goes to say the gospel, while the music is singing a psalm, 
which they call Tractus gradualis. The gospel ended, the 
priest goes again to the middle, kneels down, rises and kisses 
the table, and turns half to the altar, and half to the people, 
and the deacon, giving him the incense-box, he puts in three 
spoonsfuil of it, and blesses the incense : The incenser takes 
it from the deacon, who taking the book of the gospel, kneels 
down before the priest and asks his blessing. The priest gives 
the blessing, and the deacon kisses his hand, and then he goes 
to the left corner and sings the gospel, viz : the left corner, as 
to the people of the church, but as to the altar, it is the right. 
While the deacon sings the gospel, the priest goes to the oppo- 
site corner and there stands till the gospel is ended : Then the 
deacon carrieth to him the book open, and the priest kissing it, 
goes to the middle of the table, and kneeling, rising, kissing 
the table, the assistants doing the same, he turns his face to 
the people, openeth his arms, and says again, The Lord be 
with you. Then he turns again before the altar, and says, Let 
us pray. The music begins the offertory, when there is no 
creed to be sung, for there is no creed in all their festivals. 

While the musicians sing the offertory, the deacon prepares 
the chalice, that is, he puts the wine in it, and after him, the 
subdeacon pours in three drops of water, and cleaning nicely 
the mouth of the cup, the deacon gives it to the priest, who 
takes it in his hands, and offering it to the Eternal, sets it on 
the clean corporales, and covers it with a small piece of fine 
holland : then he says a prayer, and putting incense in the 
incensary as before, kneels, and then rising, incenses the ta- 
ble, as is said, which done, the subdeacon pours water on the 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



125 



priest's fore-fingers, which he washes and wipes with a clean 
towel, and after returns to the middle of the table, and after 
some prayers, he begins to sing the preface, which ended, he 
says some other prayers. Before the consecration, he joins 
his two hands, and puts them before his face, shuts his eyes, 
and examines his conscience for two or three minutes ; then 
opening his eyes and arms, says a prayer, and begins the 
consecration. At this time every body is silent, to hear the 
words, and when the priest comes to pronounce them, he says 
with a loud voice, in Latin, Hoc est emm corpus meum. Then 
he leaves the consecrated Host on the ara, kneels down, and 
getting up, takes again the host with his two thumbs and two 
foremost fingers, and lifts it up as high as he can, that every 
body may see it, and leaving it again on the same ara, kneels 
down, and then rising up, takes the chalice, and after he has 
consecrated the wine, leaves it on the ara, and making the 
same motions and bows, he lifts it up as he did the host, and 
placing it on the ara, covers it, and with the same gestures, he 
says a prayer in remembrance of all the saints, all parents, 
relations, friends, and of all the souls in purgatory, but espe- 
cially of "that soul for whom the sacrifice of that mass is offered 
to God by Jesus Christ himself. I say, by Jesus Christ him- 
self, for as Chrysostom and Amb.* say, the priest, not only 
representing Christ, but in the act of celebrating and conse- 
crating is the very same Christ himself. Thus it is in the 
catechism published by decree of the council of Trent.j 

Between this and the sumption, or the taking of the host, 
and drinking of the cup, the priest says some prayers, and 
sings Our Father, in Latin, kneeling down several times. — 
When he comes to the communion, he breaks the host by the 
middle, leaves one part on the table, and breaks off the other 
half, a little piece, and puts it into the cup ; this done, he eats 
the two half hosts, and drinks the wine - t and for fear any 
small fragments should remain in the cup, the deacon puts in 
more wine, and the priest drinks it up, and going to the corner 
with the chalice, the subdeacon pours water upon the priest's 
two thumbs and foremost fingers, and being well washed, goes 

* Horn. 2. in 2d Timoth. and Horn, de prod, Judee Amb. lib. 4, de sa- 
cram, C. 4. 

t Sed unus etiam, atque idem Sacerdos est Christus Dominus : — Nam Min- 
istri qui Sacrificium faciunt, non suam sed Christi personam accipiunt, cum 
ejus Corpus et Sanguinem confichmt, id quod et ipsius Consecrationis Verbis 
ostenditur, Sacerdos inquit : Hoc est Corpus meum, personam videlicet Chris- 
ti Domini gerens, panis et vini Substantiam in veram ejus Corporis et San- 
guinis Substantiam convertit. 



126 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



to the middle of the table, and drinks up the water. Then 
the deacon takes the cup and wipes it, and putting on every 
thing, as when they came to the altar, gives it to the subdea- 
con, who leaves it on the little table near the altar. After 
this is done, the priest, kneeling and getting up, and turning 
to the people and opening his arms, says, The Lord be icitk 
you, and two or more prayers ; and last of all, the gospel of St. 
John, with which he ends the mass ; so in the same order they 
went out of the vestry, they return into it again r saying a pray- 
er for the souls in purgatory. After the priest is undrest, the 
incensor and acoliti kneel down before him, and kiss his right 
hand : Then they undress themselves, and the priest goes to 
the humiliatory to give God thanks for all his benefits. 

The same ceremonies, motions and gestures the priest 
makes in a private mass, but not so many in a mass for the 
dead. They have proper masses for the holy Trinity, for 
Christ, the Virgin Mary, angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors* 
virgins, and for the dead; the ornaments for this last are al- 
ways black. This is a true description of the ceremonies of 
the mass : Now let us give an account of the means the priests 
make use of for the promoting of this sacrifice, and increasing 
their profit. 

The custom, or rule for public masses, which are always 
sung, is this : the person that goes to the clerk and asks a mass 
to be sung, carries at least six wax candles, which burn upon 
the altar's table, while the mass lasts, and a good offering for 
the priest, and besides that,, must give the charity, which is a 
crown, and the same for a mass sung for the dead ; but if a 
person have a mind to have a mass sung, such or such a day 
forever, he must give, or settle upon the chapter or commu- 
nity, a pistole every year, and these are called settled masses, 
and there are of these masses in every parish, church and 
convent, more than the priests and friars can say in a year; 
for ever since the comedy of the mass began to be acted on 
the stage of the church,, the bigots of it successively have 
settled masses every year; the priests and friars then cannot 
discharge their conscience, while they keep the people ignor- 
ant of the truth of the matter. 

Thus they blind the people : Suppose to be in a convent one 
hundred friars and priests,, and that in that convent are two 
hundred private and public masses settled every day, the 
charity of one hundred is a manifest fraud and robbery, for 
they receive it, and cannot say the masses. And neverthe- 
less, they accept every day new foundations and settlements 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



127 



of masses; for if the people ask the dean, or prior, whether 
there is a vacancy for a mass, they will never answer no; and 
this way they increase the yearly rents continually. 

This is to be understood of the chapter or community, and 
I must say, that the chapters, and parish churches, are not so 
hard upon the people as the convents of friars are, though 
they are not so rich as the communities : The reason is, be- 
cause a parish priest has, during his life, his tithes and book- 
money. But a prior of a convent commands that community 7 
only three years ; therefore, while the office lasts, they en- 
deavor to make money of every thing. I knew several priors 
very rich after their priorship ; and how did they get riches, 
but by blinding and cheating the people, exacting money for 
masses which never were said, nor sung, nor ever will be ? 

As to the private priests and friars, and their cheating ways, 
there is so much to be said on them that I cannot, in so small a 
book as this is, give a fall account of all ; so I shall only tell 
the most usual methods they have to heap up riches by gath- 
ering thousands of masses every year. 

Observe first of all, that if a priest is a parish minister, or 
vicar, he has every day of the year certain families, for whose 
souls, or the souls of their ancestors, he is to celebrate and 
offer the sacrifice of the mass. And if he is a friar, he has 
but one mass every week left to him, for six days he is obliged 
to say mass for the community : So by this certain rule, a pa- 
rish minister cannot in conscience receive any money for 
masses, when he knows he cannot say more masses than those 
settled for every day in the year; and by the same rule, a 
friar cannot in conscience receive more money than for fifty- 
two masses every year, and consequently those that receive 
more are deceivers of the poor ignorant people, robbers of 
their money, and commit sacrilege in so doing. 

And that they take more than they in justice can, shall ap- 
pear in several instances. 

First: I never saw either secular or regular priests refuse 
the charity for a mass, when a christian soul asked them to 
Bay it; and I knew hundreds of priests mighty officious in ask- 
ing masses from all sorts of people. 

Secondly : In all families whatsoever, if any one is dan- 
gerously sick, there are continually friars and priests waiting 
till the person dies, and troubling the chief of the family with 
)etitions for masses for the soul of the deceased; and if he is 
•ich, the custom is, to distribute among all the convents and 
parishes one thousand, or more masses to be said the day of 



128 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



burial. When the Marquis of St. Martin died, his lady dis- 
tributed a hundred thousand masses, for which she paid the 
very same day five thousand pounds sterling, besides one thou- 
sand masses, which she settled upon all the convents and pa- 
rish churches, to be said every year forever, which amounts 
to a thousand pistoles a year forever. 

Thirdly: The friars, most commonly, are rich, and have 
nothing of their own (as they say) ; some are assisted by their 
parents, but these are very few. They give two thirds of 
whatever they get to the community; and in some strict orders 
the friars ought to give all to the convent; nevertheless, they 
are never without money in their pockets, for all sorts of diver- 
sions ; and it is a general observation, that a friar at cards is a 
resolute man ; for as he does not work to get money, or is sure 
of getting more if he lose, he dees not care to put all on one 
card ; therefore gentlemen do not venture to play with them, 
so they are obliged to play with one another. 

I saw several friars who had nothing in the world but the 
allowance of their community, and the charity of 52 masses a 
year, venture on the card 50 pistoles ; another lose 200 pistoles 
in half an hour's time, and the next day have money enough 
to play. And this is a thing so well known, that many of our 
officers that have been in Spain, can certify the truth of it, as 
eye-witnesses. 

Now, as to the method they have to pick up money for so 
many masses, they do not tell it; but as I never was bound not 
to discover it, and the discovery of it, I hope, will be very use- 
ful to the Roman Catholics, though disadvantageous to priests 
and friars, I think myself obliged, in conscience, to reveal this 
never-revealed secret, for it is for the public good, not only of 
protestants, who by this shall know thoroughly the cheats of 
the Romish priests, but of the Roman Catholics too, who be- 
stow their money for nothing to a people that make use of it to 
ruin their souls and bodies. 

The thing is this, that the friars are said to have a privilege 
from the pope (I never saw such a privilege myself, though I 
did all my endeavors to search and find it out) of a centenaria 
missa, i. e. a brief, where the pope grants them the privilege 
of saying one mass for a hundred ; which privilege is divulged 
among priests and friars, who keep it a secret among them- 
selves : so that, as they say, one mass is equivalent to a hun- 
dred masses. I did not question when I was in the commu- 
nion, that the pope could do that and more, but I was suspi- 
cious of the truth of such a grant. Now observe that by thia 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



129 



brief, every friar, having for himself 52 masses free every 
year, and one mass being as good as a hundred, he may get 
the charity of 5200 masses, and the least charity for every 
mass being two reals of plate, i. e. fourteen pence of our 
money, he may get near 300 pounds a year. 

The secular priests, by this brief of centenaria missa, have 
more masses than the private friars ; for though they have 365 
settled masses to say in a year, they have, and may get the 
charity of 99 masses every day, which comes to 3,006,135 
masses every year. In the convents that have 120 friars, and 
some 400, the prior, having 6 masses every week from each 
of his friars, by the same rule, the prior may have millions of 
millions of masses. 

Hear now, how they do amuse the credulous people : If a 
gentleman, or gentlewoman, or any other person goes to 
church, and desires one mass to be said for such or such a 
soul, and to be present at it, there is always a friar ready, from 
six in the morning, till one, to say mass. He takes the charity 
for it, and he goes to say it, which he says for that soul, as I 
say now : For till such time, as he gets the charity of a hun- 
dred masses, which is above five pounds sterling, he will not 
say his own mass, or the mass for him. And so the rest of the 
friars do, and many priests too. The person that has given 
the charity, and has heard the mass, goes home fully satisfied 
that the mass has been said for him, or to his intention. 

As to the communities : If somebod} T dieth, and the execu- 
tors of the testament go to a father prior, and beg of him to 
say a thousand masses, he gives them a receipt, whereby the 
masses are said already; for he makes them believe that he 
has more masses said already by his friars to his own inten- 
tion, and that out of the number he applies 1000 for the soul 
of the dead person ; so the executors upon his word take the 
receipt of the masses, which they want to show to the Vicar 
General, who is to visit the testament, and see every spiritual 
thing ordered in it, accomplished accordingly. 

This custom of asking money for masses is not only among 
the friars, but among the beatas, nuns, and whores too, for a 
beata, with an affected air of sanctity goes up and down to 
visit the sick, and asks beforehand many masses from the 
heads of families, alleging that by her prayers and so many 
masses, the sick may be recovered and restored to his former 
health ; but these, if they get money for masses, they give it 
to their spiritual confessors, who say them as the beata order- 
eth. And according to their custom and belief, there is no 



130 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



harm at all in so doing. The evil is in the nuns, who get ev- 
ery where abundance of masses, on pretence they have priests 
and friars of their relations, who want the charity of masses. 
And what do they with the money? Every nun having a 
Devoto, or gallant to serve her, desireth him to say so many 
masses for her, and to give her a receipt ; he promises to do 
it, but he never doth say the masses, though he giveth a re- 
ceipt: so the nun keeps the money, the friar is paid by her in 
an unlawful way, the people are cheated, and the souls in 
purgatory (if there was such a place) shall remain there for- 
ever, for want of relief. 

But the worst of all is, that a public, scandalous woman 
will gather together a number of masses, on pretence that she 
has a cousin in such a convent, who wants masses, i. e. the 
charity for them. And what use do they make of them ? — 
This is an abomination to the Lord. They have many friars 
who visit them unlawful^, and pay for it in masses ; so the 
woman keeps the money in payment of her own and their sins y 
gets a receipt from the friars, and these never say the masses ; 
for how can we believe that such men can offer the holy sacri- 
fice (as they call the mass) for such a use ? And if they do it, 
which is, in all human probability, impossible, who would not 
be surprised at these proceedings? Every body indeed. 

There is another custom in the church of Rome, which 
brings a great deal of profit to the priests and friars, viz. the 
great masses of brotherhoods, or fraternities. In every parish 
church, and especially in every convent of friars and nuns, 
there is a number of these fraternities, i. e. corporations of 
tradesmen ; and every corporation has a saint for their advo- 
cate or patron, viz. the corporation of shoe-makers has for an 
advocate St. Chrispin and Chrispinia : the Butchers St. Bar- 
tholomew, &c. and so of the rest. There is a prior of the 
corporation, who celebrates the day of their advocate with a 
solemn mass, music, candles, and after all, an entertainment 
for the members of the fraternity, and all the friars of the 
community. To this the corporation gives eight dozen of 
white wax candles to illuminate the altar of their patron, 
when the solemn mass is sung, and whetever remains of the 
candles goes to the convent. The prior payeth to the commu- 
nity 20 crowns for the solemn mass, and 10 crowns to the 
musicians. The day following the corporation gives 3 dozen 
yellow candles, and celebrates an anniversary, and have many 
masses sung for the relief of their brethren's souls in purga- 
tory; for every mass they pay a crown. And besides all 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



131 



these, the corporation has a mass settled every Friday, which 
is to be sung for the relief of the brethren's souls, for which 
and candles, the convent receiveth 6 crowns every Friday. 
There is not one church nor convent without two or three of 
these corporations every week : for there are saints enough 
in the church for it, and by these advocates of the friars, ra- 
ther than of the members of the corporation, every body may 
form a right judgment of the riches the priests and friars get 
by these means. 

One thing I cannot pass by, though it has no relation with 
the main subject of the mass; and this is, that after the sol- 
emn mass is finished, the prior of the corporation, with his 
brethren, and the prior of the convent, with his friars, go all 
together to the refectory or common hall, to dinner, there they 
make rare demonstrations of joy, in honor of the advocate of 
that corporation. The prior of the convent makes a short 
speech before dinner, recommending to them to eat and drink 
heartily, for after they have paid all the honor and reverence 
to their advocate that is due, they ought to eat, and drink, and 
be merry; so they drink till they are happy, though not 
drunk. 

I heard a pleasant story, reported in town, from a faithful 
person, who assured me he saw, himself, a friar come out of 
the refectory, at 8 at night, and as he came out of the con- 
vent's gate, the moon shining that night, and the shadow of the 
house being in the middle of the street, the merry friar think- 
ing that the light of the moon, in the other half part of the 
street, was water, he took off his shoes and stockings, and so 
walked till he reached the shadow ; and being asked by my 
friend the meaning of such extravagant folly, the friar cried 
out, a miracle, a miracle ! The gentleman thought that the fri- 
ar was mad: but he cried the more, a miracle! a miracle! — 
Where is the miracle? (the people that came to the windows 
asked him;) I came this minute through this river, (said he) and 
I did not wet the soles of my feet; and then he desired the 
neighbors to come and be witnesses of the miracle. In such 
a condition the honor of the advocate of that day did put the 
reverend friars ; and this and the like effects such festivals 
occasion, both in the members of the convents and corporation. 

Now I come to the means and persuasions the friars make 
use of for the extolling and praising this inestimable sacrifice 
of the mass, and the great ignorance of the people in believing 
them. First of all, as the people know the debaucheries and 
lewd lives of many friars and priests, sometimes they are loth 



132 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



to desire a sinful friar to say mass for them, thinking that his 
mass cannot be so acceptable to God Almighty as that which is 
said by a priest of good morals : So far the people are illumi- 
nated by nature ; but to this, priests and friars make them be- 
lieve, that though a priest be the greatest sinner in the world, 
the sacrifice is of the same efficacy with God, since it is the 
sacrifice made by Christ on the Cross for all sinners ; and that 
it was so declared by the pope, and the council of Trent. 

Put it together with what the same council declares, that the 
priest doth not only represent Christ when he ofFereth the sac- 
rifice, but that he is the very person of Christ at that time, and 
that therefore David calls them Christs by these words: Nolite 
tangere Christos meos. O execrable thing ! If the priest is 
the very Christ in the celebration of the mass, how can he at 
the same time be a sinner? It being certain that Christ knew 
no sin: and if that Christ Priest, offering the sacrifice, is in 
any actual moral sin, how can the sacrifice of the mass, which 
is (as to them) the same sacrifice Christ did offer to his eter- 
nal Father on the cross, be efficacious to the expiation of the 
sins of all people ? For, in the first place, that sacrifice offer- 
ed by a Priest-Christ, in an actual mortal sin, cannot be an ex- 
piation of the sin by which the priest is spiritually dead. Sec- 
ondly, if the Christ-Priest is spiritually dead by that mortal 
sin, how can such a priest offer a lively spiritual sacrifice ? — 
We must conclude then, that the priests, by such blasphemous 
expressions, not only deceive the people, but rob them of 
their money, and commit a high crime, but that the sacrifice 
he offers is really of no effect or efficacy, to the relief of the 
souls in the pretended purgatory. 

From what has been said, it appears that the priests and 
friars make use of whatever means they can to cheat the peo- 
ple, to gratify their passions, and increase their treasure. 
For what cheat, fraud, and roguery, can be greater than this 
of the centenaria missa with which they suck up the money 
of poor and rich, without performing what they promise? 

If the pope's privilege for that hundred mass was really true, 
natural reason shews, it was against the public good, and there- 
fore ought not to be made use of : for by it, friars and priests 
will never quench their thirst of money and ambition, till they 
draw to them the riches of Christendom, and by these means, 
they will wrong the supposed souls in purgatory, and ruin their 
own too. Decency in the sacerdotal ornaments is agreeable 
to God our Lord, but vanity and profaneness is an abomina- 
tion before him. Of what use can all the riches of their churches 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



133 



and ornaments be ? To make the sacrifice of the mass more 
efficacious, it cannot be for; the efficacy of it proceeds fi-om 
Christ himself, who made use of different ornaments than those 
the priests make use of. Nor is it to satisfy their own ambi- 
tion, for they could get more by saying them ; it is only to 
make Mistress Mass the more admired, and gain the whole 
people to be her followers and courtiers. 

O that the Roman laity would consider the weight of these 
Christian observations, and if they will not believe them be- 
cause they are mine, I heartily beg of them all, to make pious 
and serious reflections upon themselves, to examine the designs 
of the priests and friars, to mind their lives and conversations ; 
to observe their works ; to cast up accounts every year, and see 
how much of their substance goes to the clergy and church for 
masses. Sure I am, they will find out the ill and ambitious 
designs of their spiritual guides. They will experience their 
lives not at all (most commonly.) answerable to their charac- 
ters, and sacerdotal functions ; and more, their own substances 
and estates diminished every year. Many of their families 
corrupted by the wantonness, their understandings blinded by 
the craft, their souls in the way to hell, by the wicked doc- 
trines, and their bodies under suffering by the needless impo- 
sitions of priests and friars. 

They will find also, that the pomp and brightness of a solemn 
mass, is only vanity to amuse the eyes, and a cheat to rob the 
purse. That the centenaria missa never known to them be- 
fore, is a trick and invention of priests and friars, to delude 
and deceive them, and by that means impoverish and weaken 
them, and make themselves masters of all. 

They will come at last to consider and believe, that the Ro 
man Catholic Congregations, ruled and governed by priests and 
friars, do sin against the Lord, i. e. the spiritual heads do com- 
mit abomination before the Lord, and that they cannot prosper 
here, nor hereafter, if they do not leave off their wicked ways. 
Pray read the fifth chapter, the seventeenth verse, and the 
following, of Judith, and you shall find the case and the truth 
of my last proposition. While (says he) these people sinned 
not before their God, they prospered, because the God that ha- 
teth iniquity was with them. But when they departed from the 
way that he appointed them, they were destroyed. This was 
spoken of the Jews, but we may understand it of all nations, 
and especially of the Romans, who are very much of a piece 
with the Jews of old, or no better. We see the priests depar- 
ted from the way that he appointed them. What can they 



134 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



expect but destruction, if they do not leave off their wicked- 
ness, and turn unto the Lord ? And the worst is, that the in- 
nocent laity will suffer with them, for God punishes, as we see 
in the old testament, a whole nation for the sins of their rulers. 
And it is to be feared the same will happen to the Roman 
church, for the sins of their priests. May God enlighten them. 
— Amen. 

ARTICLE II. 
Of the privileged altar. 

A privileged altar is the altar to which (or to some image on 
it) the pope has granted a privilege of such a nature, that who- 
soever says before it, or before the image, so many pater nos- 
ters,&z,c; and so many ave maria?s, with gloria patri, &c. 
obtains remission of his sins, or relieveth a soul out of purga- 
tory. Or whoever ordereth a mass to be said on the ara of 
such an altar, and before the image, has the privilege (as they 
believe) to take out of purgatory that soul for which the sac- 
rifice of the mass is offered. 

The Cardinals, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and Bish- 
ops, can grant to any image forty days of full and free indul- 
gence, and fifteen quarantains of pardon, for those that visit 
the said image, and say such a prayer before it as they have 
appointed at the granting of such graces : So not only the im~ 
ages of the altars in the church, but several images in the cor- 
ners of the streets, and on the highway, have those graces 
granted to them by the bishop of the diocess: nay, the beads, 
or rosary of the Virgin Mary, of some considerable persons, 
have the same grants. And what is yet more surprising, the 
picture of St. Anthony's pig, which is placed at the saint's feet, 
has the granting of fifteen quarantains of pardon of sins for 
those that visit and pray before him. What the people do on 
St. Martin's day, I shall tell in another chapter. 

I will not dispute now, whether the popes and bishops have 
authority to grant such privileges,- but I only say, that I do not 
believe such a dream : for the pope has usurped the suprema- 
cy and infallibility, and his ambition being so great, he never 
will dispossess himself of a thing by which he makes himself 
more supreme, infallible, and rich ; by keeping all those gra- 
ces in his own hands, he would oblige all the bigots to seek 
after him and pay him for them, and have him in more vener- 
ation than otherwise he would be in. 

These privileges are a great furtherance to carry on the 
ecclesiastical interests, and to bring the people to offer their 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



135 



prayers and money, and to be blinded and deceived by those 
papal inventions. But because I have already treated of these 
privileges, I proceed to the third article. 

ARTICLE HI. 

Of Transubstantiation, or the Eucharist. 

I shall say nothing touching the scholastic opinions of the 
Romish church, about the sacrament of the Eucharist, or the 
real presence of Jesus Christ in it; for these are well known 
by our learned and well instructed laity : so I will confine my- 
self wholly to their practices in the administration of this sa- 
crament, and the worship paid to it by the priests and laity ; 
and what, strange notions the preachers put in the people's 
heads about it. 

First, as to the administration of this sacrament, actual or 
habitual intention being necessary in a priest, to the validity 
and efficacy of the sacrament, open confession and repentance 
of his sins. He goes to consecrate the bread and wine, and, 
(as they say, believe, and make the people believe) with five 
words they oblige Jesus Christ to descend from heaven to the 
host with his body, soul and divinity, and that so he remains 
there as high and almighty as he is in heaven ; which they en- 
deavor to confirm with pretended miracles, saying, that many 
priests of pure lives have seen a little boy instead of a wafer, 
in the consecrated host, &c. 

In winter, twice every month, and in summer, every week, 
the priest is to consecrate one great host, and a quantity of 
small ones, which they do in the following manner : — After 
the priest has consecrated the great and small, besides the 
host which he is to receive himself, the priests of the parish, 
or friars of the convent, come in two lines, with wax candles 
lighted in their hands, and kneel down before the altar, and 
begin to sing an hymn and anthem to the sacrament of the al- 
tar (so it is called by them) ; then the priest, openeth the taber- 
nacle where the old great host is kept between two crystals, 
and takes out of the tabernacle the custodia, and a cup of 
small consecrated wafers, and puts them on the table of the 
altar ; then he takes the great old host, eats it, and so he does 
the small ones ; then he puts the new great consecrated host 
between the two crystals of the custodia, and the new small 
ones into the communion cup, because the small ones serve 
the common people. Then he incenses the great host on his 
knees, and having a white, neat towel round his neck, with 



136 



MASTER-KEY TO FOPEKY. 



the ends of it he takes the custodia^ and turns to the people and 
makes the figure of a cross before the people, and turning to 
the altar, puts the custodia and the cup of the small wafers 
in the tabernacle, and locketh the door, and the priests go 

away. 

The reason why the great host and the small ones are 
renewed twice a month in winter, and every week in summer, 
(as they say), is (mind this reason, for the same is against 
them) because in summer, by the excessive heat, the host may 
be corrupted and putrified, and produce worms, which many 
times has happened to the great host, as I myself have seen. 
So to prevent this, they consecrate every week in summer 
time; but in winter, which is a more favorable time to pre- 
serve the host from corruption, only once in a fortnight. If 
Christ is then in the host with the body, soul and divinity,, 
and David says, that the holy one (i. c. Christ who is God 
blessed forevermore) never shall see corruption, how comes it, 
that that host, that holy one, that Christ, is sometimes cor- 
rupted and putrified? The substance of bread being only 
subject to corruption, being vanished, and the body of Jesus 
Christ substituted in its place this body by a just inference is 
corrupted; which is against the scripture, and against the 
divinity of Jesus Christ. 

Again: I ask, whether the worms engendered in that host, 
come out of the real body of Christ, or out of the material 
substance of the host? If out of the body of Christ, everybody 
may infer from this the consequences his own fancy suggests. 
And if they say that the worms are engendered in the mate- 
rial substance of the bread, then the substance of the bread 
remains after the consecration, and not (as they say) the real 
substance of the body of Christ. 

Again : It is a rule given by all the casuists, that that host 
must be eaten by the priest. I do ask the priest that eats 
the host with the worms, whether he believeth that host and 
worms to be the real body of Christ or not ? If he says no, 
why doth he eat it to the prejudice of his own health? And if 
he believeth it to be the real body of Christ, I do ask again, 
whether the worms are Christ, with body, soul, and divinity, 
or not? If they are not, I give the said instance: And if they 
answer in the affirmative; then I say, that a priest did not eat 
the host and worms, (as I saw myself,) on pretence of the 
loathing of his stomach, and after the mass was ended, he 
carried the host, (two priests accompanying him with two can- 
dles,) and threw it into a place which they call Piscina; a 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



137 



place where they throw the dirty water after they wash their 
hands, which runs out of the church into the street. What 
can we say now? If the worms and corrupted host is the 
real body of Christ, see what a value they have for him, when 
they throw it away like dirty water; and if that host comes out 
of the running piscina into the street, the first dog or pig pas- 
sing by (which is very common in Spain) may eat it. And if 
they are not, besides the said instance of eating it to the pre- 
judice of their health, we may add this, namely : Why do the 
priests and two more carry the host in form of procession, and 
with so great veneration, with lights and psalms, as if it was 
the real body of Christ? 

Now, as to the way of administering the sacrament to the 
people, they do it in the following manner, which is also 
against the fantastical transubstantiation. I said that the priest 
or friar consecrates small hosts once a week, to give them to 
the people when they go to receive. The priest in his sur- 
plice, and with the stola on, goes to the altar, says the prayer 
of the sacrament, opens the tabernacle, and taking out of it 
the cup, opens it, and turning to the communicants, takes one 
of the wafers with his thumb and the foremost finger of his 
right hand, lifts it up, and says, See the lamb of God that tak- 
e£h away the sins of the world, which he repeats three times ; 
and after goes straightway to the communicants, and puts a 
wafer into each of their mouths. When all have received, he 
puts the cup again into the tabernacle, and goes to the vestry. 
This is when the people receive before or after mass ; but 
when they receive at mass, the priest consecrates for himself 
a great host, and after he has eaten it, he takes the cup out of 
the tabernacle and gives the small wafers, consecrated before 
by another priest, to the communicants, and putting again the 
cup into the tabernacle, or sacrarium, (as they call it,) drinks 
the consecrated wine himself. 

I will not spend my time in proving, that the denying of 
the chalice to the laity is a manifest error, and that it is only to 
extol and raise the ecclesiastical dignity to the highest pitch : 
But I come to their ridiculous, nonsensical practices in several 
accidental cases, viz : First, I myself gave the sacrament to a 
lady, who had on that day a new suit of clothes ; but she did 
not open her mouth wide enough to let the wafer on her tongue, 
and by my carelessness it fell upon one of her sleeves, and 
from thence to the ground ; I ordered her not to quit the place 
till I had done ; so, after the communion was over, I went to her 
again, and cutting a piece of the sleeve, where the wafer had. 

m2 



138 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



touched, and scratching the ground, I took both the piece and 
dust, and carried them to the piscina; but I was suspended 
ab officio and beneficio for eight days, as a punishment for my 
distraction, and not minding well my business. But this rule 
and custom of throwing into the piscina, among the dirty wa- 
ter, every thing that the host had touched, they ought to throw 
the fingers of the priest, or at least the tongues of men and 
women into the same place ; and thus, their tricks and super- 
stitious ceremonies never would be discovered nor spread 
abroad. How inconsistent this custom is with right sense and 
reason, every body may see. 

Secondly. In the Dominican's convent it happened, that a 
lady who had a lap-dog, which she always used to carry along 
with her, went to receive the sacrement with the dog under 
her arm, and the dog looking up and beginning to bark when 
the friar went to put the wafer in the lady's mouth, he let the 
wafer fall, which happened to drop into the dog's mouth. Both 
the friar and the lady were in a deep amazement and confu- 
sion, and knew not what to do ; so they sent for the reverend 
father prior, who resolved this nice point upon the spot, and 
ordered to call two friars and the clerk, and to bring the cross, 
and two candlesticks with two candles lighted, and to carry 
the dog in from the procession into the vestry, and keep the 
poor little creature there with illuminations, as if he was the 
host itself, till the digestion of the wafer was over, and then 
to kill the dog and throw it into the piscina. Another friar 
said, it was better to open the dog immediately, and take out 
the fragments of the host; and a third was of opinion, that 
the dog should be burnt on the spot. The lady, who loved 
dearly her Cupid, (this was the dog's name,) entreated the fa- 
ther prior to save the dog's life, if possible, and that she would 
give any thing to make amends for it. Then the prior and 
friars retired to consult what to do in this case ; and it was re- 
solved, that the dog should be called for the future, El perillo 
del sacramento, i. e. The sacrament's dog. 2. That if the 
dog should happen to die, the lady was to give him a burying 
in consecrated ground. 3. That the lady should take care 
not to let the dog play with other dogs. 4. That she was to 
give a silver dog, which was to be placed upon the tabernacle 
where the hosts are kept. And, 5. That she should give 
twenty pistoles to the convent. Every article was performed 
accordingly, and the dog was kept with a great deal of care 
and veneration. The case was printed, and so came to the 
ears of the inquisitors, and Don Pedro Guerrero, first inquisi- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



tor, thinking the thing very scandalous, sent for the poor dog, 
and kept him in the inquisition to the great grief of the lady. 
What became of the dog nobody can tell. This case is wor- 
thy to be reflected on by serious, learned men, who may draw 
consequences to convince the Romans of the follies, coveious- 
ness, and superstitions of the priests. 

This I aver, that after this case was published, it was dispu- 
ted on in all the moral academies ; but as I cannot tell all the 
sentiments and resolutions of them, I will confine myself to 
those of the academy of the holy trinity, wherein I was pres- 
ent when the case was proposed by the president, in the fol- 
lowing terms : 

Most reverend and learned brethren — 'the case of the dog 
(blasphemously called the sacrament's dog) deserves your 
application and searching, which ought to be carried on with a 
wise, christian, and solid way of arguing, both in this case, or 
any other like it. For my part, I am surprised when I think 
of the irregular, unchristian method, the priors and friars took 
in the case, and both the case and their resolution call for our 
mature consideration. Thanks be to God, that our people 
give full obedience to our mother the church, and that they in- 
quire no further into the matter, after some of our teachers 
have advised them ; otherwise the honor and reputation of our 
brethren would be quite ruined. For my part, (salva jide,) I 
think, that upon the same case, the priest ought to let the thing 
drop there, and take no further notice, rather than to give oc- 
casion to some critics to scandalize, and to laugh at the whole 
clergy. Besides, that it is to abate the incomparable value of 
the Euckaristia, and to make it ridiculous before good, sensi- 
ble men. 

Thus the president spoke ; and fifteen members of the acad- 
emy were of his opinion. One of the members said, that be- 
ing certain that the dog had eaten the real body and blood of 
Jesus Christ, the priest, after the communion was over, was 
obliged to call the lady in private, and give a vomit to the dog, 
and to cast into the piscina what he should throw up. Another 
said, that the sacrament being a spiritual nourishment to the 
soul, he was obliged to ask a question, and it was, whether the 
sensitive soul of the dog was nourished by the sacrament or 
not? All agreed in the affirmative, upon which the question- 
ist formed the following argument: The soul nourished by the 
sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, who is eternal life, 
is immortal; but the sensitive soul of the dog was nourished by 
Christ, according to your opinions : Ergo, the soul of the dog 



140 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



is immortal j then, if immortal, where is the soul to go after 
death ; to heaven, to hell, or to purgatory ? We must answer, 
to neither of these places : So we disown that the dog did eat 
the body of Christ; and there is more in the sacrament than 
we can comprehend ; and (salva fide, and in the way in argu- 
ment) I say, that the dog ate what we see in the host, and not 
what we believe. Thus the member ended his discourse. 

After all these disputes, the case was thus resolved : that 
the priest should ask the inquisitors' advice, who being the 
judges in matters of faith, may safely determine what is to be 
done in such a case, and the like. 

Thirdly. I have already said in another place, that the 
reverend father friar James Garcia was reputed among the 
learned, the only man for divinity in this present age,* and that 
he was my master, and by his repeated kindness to me, I may 
say, that I was his well^beloved disciple. I was to defend a 
public thesis of divinity in the university, and he was to be 
president or moderator. The thesis contained the follow- 
ing at treises: De Essentia et Attributis Dei: Be Visione Be- 
atified: De Gratia Justificante et Auxiliante: De Providentia: 
De Actu Libero: De Trinitate: and De Sacramentis in gen- 
ere. All which I had learned from him. The shortest 
treatise, of all he taught publicly in the university, was the 
Eucharistia. The proofs of his opinion were short, and the 
objections against them very succinct and dark. I must con- 
fess, that I was full of confusion, and uneasy for fear that some 
doctor of divinity would make an argument against our opin- 
ion, touching the sacrament of Eucharistia. And I endeavored 
to ask my master to instruct me, and furnish me with answers 
suitable to the most difficult objections that could be proposed - 
but though he desired me to be easy about it, and that, upon 
necessity, he would answer for me ; I replied with the follow- 
ing objection : God will never punish any man for not believing 
what is against the evidence of our senses, but the real pres- 
ence in Eucharistia is so: Ergo, {salva fide,) God will not 
punish any man for not believing the real presence of Christ 
there. To this he told me that none of the doctors would pro- 
pose such an argument to me, and he advised me not to make 
such an objection in public, but to keep it in my heart. But 
father, (said I,) I ask your answer. My answer is (said he) 
aliud Lingua doceo, aliud Corde credo; i. e. I teach one thing, 
and I believe another. By these instances, I have given now, 
every body may easily know the corruptions of the Romish 
church, and the nonsensical opinions of their priests and fri 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



141 



ars, as also, that the learned do not believe in their hearts, 
that there is such a monster as transubstantiation, though for 
some worldly ends, they do not discover their true senti- 
ments about it. 

Now I proceed to the worship, and adoration, both the clergy 
and laity pay to the holy host or sacrament. 

I shall not say any thing of what the people do, when the 
priests in a procession under a canopy carried the sacrament 
to the sick, for this custom and the pomp of it, and the idola- 
trous worship and adoration offered to it, is well known by our 
travellers and officers of the army. 

Philip the IVth, king of Spain, as he was a hunting, met in 
the way a crowd of people following a priest, and asking the 
reason, he was told that the priest carried the consecrated wa- 
fer in his bosom to a sick person ; the priest walked, and the 
king, leaving his horse, desired the priest to mount and ride 
on it, and holding the stirrup, bareheaded, he followed the 
priest all the way to the house, and gave him the horse for a 
present. From the king to the shepherd, all the people pay 
the same adoration to the holy host, which shall be better 
known by the pomp and magnificence they carry the great 
host with, in the solemn festival of corpus Christi,orof Christ's 
body. I shall describe only the general procession made on 
that day in Saragossa, of which I was an eye-witness. 

Though the festival of corpus Christi be a moveable feast, 
it always falls on a Thursday. That day is made the great 
general procession of corpus Christi, and the Sunday follow- 
ing, every congregation through the streets of the parish, and 
every convent of friars and nuns through the cloisters of the 
convent go with great pomp to the private procession of 
Christ's body. As to the general great one, the festival is or- 
dered in the following manner : 

The Dean of the cathedral church of St. Salvator sends an 
officer to summon all the communities of friars, all* the clergy 
of the parish churches, the Viceroy, governor and magistrates, 
the judges of the civil and criminal council, with the lord 
chancellor of the kingdom, and all the fraternities, brother- 
hoods, or corporations of the city, to meet together on the 
Thursday following, in the metropolitan cathedral church of 
St. Salvator, with all the standards, trumpets, giants,* both of 

* Three big giant men, and three giant women, and six little ones, 
drest in men and women's clothes, made of thin wood, and carried by 
a man hid under the clothes. The big ones are fifteen feet high, which 



142 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the greater or lesser size in their respective habits of office or 
dignity; and all the clergy of the parish churches, and friars 
of convents, to bring along with them in a procession, with due 
reverence, all the silver bodies of saints on a base or pedestal, 
which are in their churches and convents. Item: Orders are 
published in every street, that the inhabitants or house-keep- 
ers are to clean the streets which the sacrament is to go 
through, and cover the ground with greens, and flowers, and 
to put the best hangings in the fronts of the balconies, and win- 
dows: All which is done accordingly; or else he that does not 
obey and perform such orders, is to pay 20 pistoles without 
any excuse whatsoever. 

At three in the afternoon, the viceroy goes in state with the 
governor, judges, magistrates and officers, to meet the arch- 
bishop in his palace, and to accompany his grace to church, 
where all the communities of friars, clergy and corporations, 
are waiting for them. The dean and chapter receive them at 
the great porch, and after the archbishop has made a prayer 
before the great altar, the music begins to sing, Pange lingua 
gloriosa, while the archbishop takes out of the tabernacle the 
host upon the rich chalice, and placeth it on the great custodia, 
on the altar's table. Then the quire begins the evening songs, 
in which the archbishop in his pontifical habit officiateth, and 
when all is over, his grace giveth the blessing to the people 
with the sacrament in his hands. Then the archbishop, with 
the help of the dean, archdeacon and chanter, placeth the cus- 
todia on a gilt pedestal, which is adorned with flowers and the 
jewels of several ladies of quality, and which is carried on the 
shoulders of twelve priests, drest in the same ornaments they 
say mass in. This being done, the procession begins to go out 
of the church in the following order : 

First of all the bagpipe, and the great and small giants, 
dancing all along the streets. 2. The big silver cross of the 
cathedral, carried by a clerk-priest, and two young assistants, 
with silver candlesticks and lighted candles. 3. From the 
cross to the piper, a man with a high hook goes and comes back 
again while the procession lasts. The hook is called St. Paul's 
hook, because it belongs to St. Paul's church. That hook is 
very sharp, and they make use of it in that procession, to cut 
down the signs of taverns and shops, for fear that the holy 
custodia should be spoiled. 4. The standard and sign of the 
youngest corporation, and all the members of it, with a wax 

are kept in the hall of the city, for the magnificence and splendor of 
that day. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



143 



candle in their hands, forming two lines, whom all the corpora- 
tions follow one after another in the same order. There are 
thirty corporations, and the smallest is composed of thirty 
members. 5. The boys and girls of the blue hospital with 
their master, mistress, and chaplain in his aha stola, and long 
sacerdotal cloak. 6. The youngest religion (the order of St. 
Francis is called St. Francis' religion, and so are all orders, 
which they reckon 70, and which we may really, in the phrase 
of a satirical gentleman, call 70 religions without religion) 
with their reverend and two friars more at the end of each or- 
der, drest in the ornaments they use at the altar : and so all 
the orders go one after another in the same manner. There 
are 20 convents of friars, and on this solemn festival, every 
one being obliged to go to the procession, we reckon there 
may be about two thousand present on this occasion; and 16 
convents of nuns, the number of them by regular computation 
is 1500. 7. The clergy of the youngest parish, with the pa- 
rish cross before, and the minister of it behind them in sacred 
ornaments. And so the clergy of other parishes follow one 
another in the same order, every friar and priest having a 
white wax candle lighted in his hand. 

The number of secular priests, constantly residing in Sara- 
gossa, is 1200 in that one town : So by the said account, we 
find all the ecclesiastical persons to amount to 4700, when the 
whole of the inhabitants come to 15000 families. 

8. The clergy of the cathedrals of St. Salvator, and the lady 
of Pilar, with all their sacerdotal ornaments, as also the musi- 
cians of both cathedrals which go before the custodia or sacra- 
ment, singing all the way. Then the 12 priests more, that 
carry the canopy under which the sacrament goes, and under 
the end of it the dean, and two prebends, as deacon and sub- 
deacon. The archbishop in his pontifical habit goes at the 
subdeacon's right hand, the viceroy at the archbishop's, and 
the deacon and subdeacon, one at the right and the other at the 
left, all under the canopy. Six priests, with incense and in- 
censaries on both sides of the custodia, go incensing the sacra- 
ment without intermission ; for while one kneels down before 
the great host, and incenses it three times, the other puts in- 
cense in his incensary, and goes to relieve the other, and thus 
they do, from the coming out of the church, till they return 
back again to it. 

9. The great chancellor, presidents, and councils, follow 
after, and after all, the nobility, men and women, with lighted 
candles. This procession lasts four hours from the time it goes 



144 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



out, till it comes into the church again. All the bells of the 
convents and parishes ring all this time ; and if there were not 
so many idolatrous ceremonies in that procession, it would 
be a great pleasure to see the streets so richly adorned 
with the best hangings, and the variety of persons in the 
procession. 

The riches of that procession are incredible to a foreigner; 
but matters of fact (the truth of which may be inquired into) 
must be received by all serious people. I have spoken already 
of the rich custodia which the archbishop of Sevil gave to the 
cathedral, and of the rich chalice set in diamonds. Now be- 
sides these two things, we reckon 33 silver crosses belonging 
to convents, and parish churches, ten feet high, and about the 
thickness of the pole of a coach; thirty-three small crosses 
which the priests and friars, who officiate that day, carry in 
their hands ; these crosses, though small, are richer than the 
big one, because in the middle of the cross there is a relic, 
which is a piece of wood (as they say) of the cross on which 
our Saviour was crucified, and which they call holy wood. 
This relic is set in precious stones, and many of them set in 
diamonds. Thirty-three sacerdotal cloaks to officiate in, made 
of Tusy d'or, edged with pearls, emeralds, rubies, and other 
rich stones. Sixty-six silver candlesticks, four feet high. A 
large gold possenet, and a gold handle for the hysop; six incen- 
saries, four of them silver, and two of gold ; four silver incense 
boxes, and two gold ones. Three hundred and eighty silver 
bodies of saints on their rich gilt pedestals, of which two hun- 
dred are whole bodies, and the rest half, but many are gilt, 
and several wear mitres on their heads, embroidered with pre- 
cious stones. 

The image of St. Michael, with the devil under his feet, and 
the image with wings, are of solid silver, gilt all over. 

With this magnificence they carry the sacrament through 
the principal streets of the city, and all the people that are in 
the balconies and lattice windows throw roses and other flow- 
ers upon the canopy of the sacrament as it goes by. When 
the procession is over, and the sacrament placed in the taber- 
nacle, there is a stage before the altar to act a sacramental or 
divine comedy, which lasts about an hour, and this custom is 
practised also on Christmas eve. By these, every body may 
know their bigotries, superstitions and idolatries. 

Now I come to say something of the strange notions the 
priests and friars, confessors and preachers, put in the people's 
heads, concerning the host. First, they preach and charge the 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



145 



people to adore the sacrament, but never to touch the conse- 
crated host or wafer, this being a crime against the catholic 
faith, and that all such as dare to touch it, must be burned in 
the inquisition. Secondly, to believe that the real flesh and 
blood of Jesus Christ is in the Eucharist; and that, though 
they cannot see it, they ought to submit their understanding 
to the catholic faith. Thirdly, that if any body could lawful- 
ly touch the host, or wafer, and prick it with: a pin, blood 
would come out immediately, which they pretend to prove 
with many miracles, as that of the corporales of Daroca, which, 
as it comes a propos, I cannot pass by without giving an ac- 
count of it. 

Daroca is an ancient city of the kingdom of Aragon, which 
bordereth on Castilla. It is famous among the Spaniards for 
its situation and strength, and for the mine that is in the neigh- 
boring mountain to it. For the floods coming with impetuos- 
ity against the walls, and putting the city in great danger, the 
inhabitants dug three hundred yards from one end of the mount 
to the other, and made a subterranean passage, and the floods 
going that way, the city is ever since free from danger. But 
it is yet more famous for what they call corporales. The sto- 
ry is thin: — When the Moors invaded Spain, a curate near 
Daroca took all imaginable care to save the consecrated wa- 
fers that were in the tabernacle, and not to see them profaned 
by the infidels, and open enemies of their faith. There were 
but five small hosts in all, which he put with the fine holland 
on which the priest puts the great host when he says mass ; 
and this piece of holland is called corporales. The Moors 
were at that time near, and nobody could make an escape ; 
and the priest, ready to lose his own life, rather than to see the 
host profaned, tied the corporales with the five wafers in it, on 
a blind mule, and whipped the beast out of town, said, Speed 
you well, for I am sure that the sacrament on your back will 
guide you to some place free from the enemies of our religion. 
The mule journeyed on, and the next day arrived at Daroca, 
and some people observed the corporales tied with the holy 
stola to the mule's belly, were surprised at so rare and unex- 
pected a thing, and called a priest of the great parish church ; 
he came to the mule, and examining the thing, found the five 
wafers converted into blood, and stamped on the holland cloth; 
which spots of blood (or painting) of the bigness of a tenpenny 
piece, are preserved till this present time. Then the priest 
cried out, a miracle, the clergy in great devotion and proces- 
sion came with candles and a canopy, and taking the mule 
N 



146 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



under it, went to the great church ; and when the minister of 
the parish had taken the stola and corporales from off the mule, 
he went to place the corporales on the ara altaris, or the al- 
tar's table, but the mule not well pleased with it, left the com- 
pany, and went up to the steeple or belfry: then the parish 
minister (though not so wise as the mule) followed the mule 
up stairs, and seeing the beast mark a place there with its 
mouth, he soon understood that the mule being blind, could 
neither go up, nor mark that place without being inspired 
from above ; and having persuaded the people of the same, all 
agreed that there should be a little chapel built to keep the ho- 
ly corporales. When this resolution was approved by the 
clergy and laity, the mule died on the steeple. At the same 
time the curate having made his escape, and by divine inspi- 
ration followed the mule's steps, came to Daroca, and telling 
the whole cause of his putting the sacrament on the mule to 
save it from profanation, both clergy and laity began to cry 
out, a miracle from Heaven; and immediately further agreed, 
that the mule should be embalmed and kept before the 
holy corporales in the steeple, ad perpetuam Rei Memori- 
am: Item, to make a mule of the best stone could be found, 
in honor of the mule, and that for the future his name 
should be the holy mule. All things being done according- 
ly, and the city never having been mastered by the Moors, 
(as the inhabitants say,) they instituted a solemn festival, to 
which ever since the neighbors, even fourteen leagues dis- 
tant, come every year. Those that go up to the steeple to 
see the holy miracle of the wafers converted into blood, and 
the holy mule, must pay four reals of plate. The people 
of Daroca call it sometimes, the holy mystery, another time 
the holy miracle; the sacrament of the mule by some ignorants ; 
the holy sacrament on a mule by the wise, &c. I myself took a 
journey to see this wonder of Daroca, and paying the fees, 
went up to have a full view of every thing : and really, I 
saw a mule of stone, and a coffin wherein the embalmed mule 
was kept, (as the clerk told me,) but he did not open it, for the 
key is kept always at the bishop's palace : I saw likewise the 
linen with five red spots in a little box of gilt silver, two can- 
dles always burning before it; and a glass lamp before the 
mule's coffin. At that time I believed every part of the story. 
All sorts of people believe, as an infallible truth, that every 
body's sight is preserved during life in the same degree of 
strength and clearness it is in at the time they see these bloody 
spots, which is proved by many instances of old women, who 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



147 



by that means have excellent eyes to the last. Item: They 
give out that no blind person ever came before the corporales, 
without his sight being restored to him; which I firmly believe, 
for no blind person ever was up in the steeple. I cannot 
swear this, but I have very good reason to affirm it; for in the 
first place, there is a small book printed, called "Directions 
for the faithful people," teaching them how to prepare them- 
selves before they go up to see the holy mystery of the corpo- 
rales of Daroca. One of the advices to the blind is, that they 
must confess and receive the sacrament, and have the soul as 
clean as crystal, and to endeavor to go up to the steeple from 
the altar's table without any guide ; and that if some cannot go 
as far as the chapel of the belfry, it is a sign that that man is 
not well prepared. The distance between the altar and the 
steeple's door is about forty yards, and there are nine strong 
pillars in the body of the church; so the poor blind people, be- 
fore they can reach the belfry's door, commonly break their 
noses, some their heads, &c. And some, more cautious and 
careful, and happy in finding out the door, when they are in 
the middle of the stairs, find a snare or stock, and break their 
* legs ; for I remember very well, when I went up myself, I saw 
a sort of a window in the middle of one of the steps, and ask- 
ing the use of it, the clerk told me, it was to let down through 
it the rope of the great bell. Then I inquired no farther; but 
now, being sure that there was but that small window shut up 
in the whole pair of winding stairs, I conclude, that it could 
not be there for the said use, and in all probability that win- 
dow was the snare to catch the poor blind people in. There- 
fore, the clerk being not sure of the miracle, by this prevents 
the discovery of the want of virtue in the holy corporales, to 
cure all diseases, and at the same time gives out a miracle, and 
the miracle is, that the blind man has broke his leg, and that 
it is a just punishment for daring to go up either unprepared, 
or with little faith ; so no blind man has recovered sight by the 
virtue of the corporales. 

By means of this same direction, no sick person dareth to 
go up ; but if they recover, it must be a miracle of the holy 
mystery. And if a mule happen to be sick, the master of it 
goes and makes the beast give three turns around the steeple, 
thinking that its brother mule hath power to cure it. Many 
will be apt to suspect the truth of this story; nay, some will 
think it a mere forgery; but I appeal to several officers of the 
army that went through Daroca, to be witnesses for me. It 
may be they were not told all the circumstances of it, because 



148 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the people there having strange notions of an heretic ; but the 
mule and corporales being the most remarkable thing in the 
city, I am sure many did hear of it, though nobody of the her- 
etics could see the holy mystery, being a thing forbidden by 
their church. 

With this, and the like pretended miracles, priests and fri- 
ars, confessors and preachers, make the people believe the 
real presence of Christ's body in the host, and the ineffable vir- 
tue of this sacrament to cure all bodily distempers : nay, what 
is more than all these, they persuade, and make the people 
believe, that if a man or a woman has the consecrated wafer 
by them, they cannot die suddenly; nay, nor be killed by 
violent hands. So great is the power of the host (they say,) 
that if you show it to the enraged sea, the storm immecliatety 
ceaseth; if you carry it with you, you cannot die, especially 
a sudden death. And really, they may venture to give out 
this doctrine as an infallible point, for they are sure no body 
will dare to touch the host, and much less to carry it with them, 
it being so high a crime, that if any body was found out 
with the consecrated wafer on his body, the sentence is 
already passed by the inquisitors, that such a person is to be 
burnt alive. 

A parish priest carrying the consecrated host to a sick per- 
son out of the town, was killed by a flash of lightning, which 
accident being clearly against this pretended infallible power 
of the host, the people took the liberty to talk about it; but the 
clergy ordered a funeral sermon, to which the nobility and 
common people were invited by the common cryer. Every 
body expected a funeral sermon : but the preacher, taking for 
his text Judicium sibi mouducat, proved, that the priest killed 
by a flash of lightning, was certainly damned, and that his 
sudden death, while he had the consecrated host in his hands, 
was the reward of his wickedness; and that his death was to 
be looked upon as a miracle of the holy host, rather than an 
instance against the infinite power of it ; for, said he, we have 
carefully searched and examined every thing, and have found 
that he was not a priest, and therefore had no authority to 
touch the host, nor administer the sacrament of the eucharist. 
And with this the murmur of the people ceased, and every body 
afterwards thought, that the sudden death of the priest was 
a manifest miracle wrought by the host, and a visible punish- 
ment from heaven for his sacrilegious crimes. 

The truth is, that the priest was ordained by the bishop of 
Tarasona, in Aragon. The thing happened in the city of 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



149 



Calatayed, in the same kingdom ; his name was Mossen Pe- 
dro Aquilar ; he was buried in the church called the Sepulchre 
of our Lord. The reverend father Fombuena was the preach- 
er, and I was one of the hearers, and one that believed the 
thing as the preacher told us, till after a while, some members 
of the academy having examined the case, and found that he 
was really a priest, proposed it to the assembly, that every 
body might give his opinion about it. The president said that 
such a case was not to be brought into question, but the doc- 
trine of the church touching eucharistia to be believed with- 
out any scruples. 

Again, That the host has no virtue nor power to calm the 
raging sea, I know myself by experience; and as the rela- 
tion of the thing may prove effectual to convince other Roman 
Catholics of their erroneous belief, as well as the passage it- 
self did me, it seems fit in this place to give an account of it, 
and I pray God Almighty, that it may please him to give all 
the Roman Catholics the same conviction, some way or other, 
his infinite goodness was pleased to give me, that they may 
take as firm a resolution as I have taken, to espouse the safest 
way to salvation : for if we take our measures concerning the 
truths of religion from the rules of holy scriptures, and the 
platform of the primitive churches ;' nay, if the religion cf Jesus 
Christ as it is delivered in the New Testament, be the true 
religion, (as I am certain it is) and the best and safest way to 
salvation ; then certainly the protestant religion is the purest, 
that is, at this day, in the world ; the most orthodox in faith, 
and the freest on the one hand from idolatry and superstition, 
and on the other, from whimsical novelties and enthusiasms, 
of any now extant; and not only a safe way to salvation, 
but the safest of any I know of in the world. Now I come 
to my story. 

After I left my country, making use of several stratagems 
and disguises, I went to France, dressed in officer's clothes, 
and so I was known by some at Paris, under the name of the 
Spanish officer. My design was to come to England, but the 
treaty of Utretcht not being concluded, I could not attempt to 
come from Calais to Dover without a pass. I was perfectly a 
stranger in Paris, and without any acquaintance, only one 
French priest, who had studied in Spain r and could speak 
Spanish perfectly well, which was a great satisfaction to me, 
for at that time I could not speak French. The priest (to whom 
I made some presents,) was interpreter of the Spanish letters 
to the king's confessor, father le Telier, to whom he introduce 
n2 



150 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



ed me; t spoke to him in Latin, and told him I had got a great 
fortune by the death of an uncle in London, and that I should 
be very much obliged to his reverence, if by his influence I 
could obtain a pass. The priest had told him that I was a Cap- 
tain, which the father believed ; and my brother having been 
a captain, (though at that time he was dead,) it was an easy 
thing to pass for him. The first visit was favorable to me, for 
the father confessor promised to get me a pass, and bid me call 
for it two or three days after, which I did ; but I found the rev- 
erend very inquisitive, asking me several questions in divin- 
ity: I answered to all, that I had studied only a little Latin. — 
He then told me there was no possibility of obtaining a pass 
for England, and that if I had committed any irregular thing 
in the army, he would give me a letter for the king of Spain, 
to obtain my pardon, and make my peace with him again. 1 
confess this speech made me very uneasy, and I began to sus- 
pect some danger; so I thanked him for his kind offer to me, 
and told him I had committed nothing against my king or 
country, which I would convince him of, by refusing his favor, 
and by returning back into Spain that very week. So I took 
my leave of him, and the day following I left Paris, and went 
back to St. Sebastian, where I kept my lodgings till I got the 
opportunity of a ship for Lisbon. The merchants of Saragos- 
sa trade to St. Sebastian, where I was afraid of being known, 
and discovered by some of them, and for this reason I kept 
close in my room, giving out that I was not well. How to get 
a ship was the only difficulty ; but I was freed from this by 
sending for the father rector of the Jesuits, on pretence that I 
was very ill, and was willing to confess my sins. Accordingly 
he came to me that very day, and I began my confession, in 
which I only told him, that as I was an officer in the army, and 
had killed another officer, for which the king had ordered me 
to be taken up, so that my life being in danger, and my con- 
science in trouble on account of the murder, I put both life 
and soul into his hands. He asked me all the usual questions, 
but I confessing no other sin, the father thought I was a good 
christian, and something great in the world; so he bade me be 
easy and mind nothing but keep myself in readiness for my 
voyage, and that he would send a captain of a ship to me 
that very night, who should take me along with him into the 
ship, and sail out the next morning. And so all was perform- 
ed accordingly, and I went that night to embark. What di- 
rections the father rector gave the captain I know not; this I 
know, that I was treated as if I were the son of a grandee, 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



151 



and served by the captain himself. This was the first time of 
my life being at sea, and I was very sick the two first days ; 
the third day a great storm began, which put me in fear of 
losing my life. But then calling to my memory that the di- 
vine power was said to be in a consecrated host, to calm the 
raging sea, and knowing that a priest had power to consecrate 
at any time, and every where, upon urgent necessity, I went 
into the captain's cabin, and too^v one of the white wafers he 
made use of for sealing letters, and being alone, I made this 
promise before God Almighty, from the bottom of my heart, 
that if he would graciously condescend to remove my scruples 
at once, by manifesting the real presence of his body in the 
host, and its infinite power, by calming the raging tempest at 
the sight of the one I was now going to consecrate, then I 
would return back again into my church and country, and live 
and die in the Romish communion ; but if the effect did not 
answer to the doctrine preached of the host, then I would live 
and die in the church that knoweth no such errors, nor obe}"- 
eth the pope. After this promise, I said my prayers of pre- 
paration to consecrate ; and after I had consecrated one wafer 
(which I was sure in my conscience was duly consecrated, 
for the want of ornaments and a decent place, is no hindrance 
to the validity of the priest's consecration,) I went up, and hi- 
ding the wafer from the captain and the crew of the ship, I 
shewed it to the sea, and trembling all over, stood in that con- 
dition for half an hour. But the storm at that time increased 
so violently, that we lost the mast of the ship, and the captain 
desired me to go down. I was willing to wait a little longer 
for the efficacy of the host, but finding none at all, I went 
down, and kneeling, I began to pray to God, and thinking I 
was obliged to eat the consecrated host for reverence sake, I 
did eat it, but without any faith of the efficacy and power of 
it. Then I vowed before God, never to believe any doctrine 
of the Romish church, but those that were taught by Jesus 
Christ and his apostles, and to live and die in that only. After 
this vow, though the storm did continue for a day and a night, 
my heart was calmed, all my fears vanished, and though with 
manifest danger of our lives, we got into Vigo's harbor, and 
safe from the storm. 

I left the ship there, and by land I went to Portugal, having 
an inward joy and easiness in my heart; but having stopped 
at Porto-Porto, to take a little rest, I fell sick of an intermitting 
fever, which brought me to the very point of death three times, 
in three months and nine days. The minister of the parish be- 



152 



3IASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



ing told by my landlord, the condition I was in, past hopes of 
recovery, came to visit me, and desired me to confess and re- 
ceive as a good christian ought to do ; but I thanking him for 
his good advice, told him, that I was not so sick as he believ- 
ed, and that I would send for him if I had any occasion, and 
really, I never believed that I was to die of that distemper, 
and by this thought, I was freed from priests and confessors. 

When I was out of danger, and well recovered, I went to 
Lisbon, where I had the opportunity of talking with some Eng- 
lish merchants, who explained to me some points of the protes- 
tant religion, and my heart was in such a disposition, that their 
words affected me more than all the sermons and moral sums 
of the Romish church had ever done before. 

I knew a captain in the Spanish army, Don Alonzo Corse- 
ga by name, who was killed at the siege of Lerida, in whose 
bosom was found (in a little purse,) the consecrated wafer, for 
which his body was burnt to ashes. It is very likely that the 
poor man thinking to escape from death by that means, he 
took it out of his mouth when he went to receive, and kept it 
as an amulet against the martial instruments, which paid no 
respect to its fancied divinity. 

Now by these instances I have given you already, it appears 
that the practices of the Romish priests, in the administration 
of the Eucharist, either to healthy or sick people, are only ob- 
served for interest's sake, as the worship and adoration given 
to the consecrated wafer, tends only to the increase of their 
treasure. And lastly, the doctrine of transubstaniiation and 
real presence of Christ, which they endeavor to make the 
people believe by supposed miracles, is only to cheat and blind 
the poor laity, and raise in them a great reverence and admi- 
ration of their persons and office. 

O Lord God, who receivest into thy favor those that fear 
thee, and do work righteousness, suffer not so many thousands 
of innocent people to be led in the way of error, but enlighten 
them with thy spirit, put the light of the Gospel upon the can- 
dlestick, that all those who are in darkness may by that means 
come to the safe way of salvation, and live and die in the 
profession of thy truth, and the purity of that perfect religion 
taught by thine only son, our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



MASTER-KEY TO TOPER Y. 



153 



ARTICLE IV. 
Of Purgatory. 

I cannot give a real account of Purgatory, but I will tell all 
I know of the practices and doctrines of the Romish priests and 
friars, in relation to that imaginary place, which indeed 
must be of vast extent and almost infinite capacity, if, as 
the priests give out, there are as many apartments in it as 
conditions and ranks of people in the world among Roman- 
Catholics. 

The intenseness of the fire in Purgatory is calculated by 
them, which they say is eight degrees, and that of hell only 
four degrees. But there is a great difference between these 
two fires, in this, viz. that of purgatory (though more intense, 
active, consuming and devouring) is but for a time, of which 
the souls may be freed by the suffrages of masses ; but that of 
hell is forever. In both places, they say, the souls are tor- 
mented, and deprived of the glorious sight of God, but the 
souls in purgatory (though they endure a great deal more than 
those in hell) have certain hopes of seeing God sometime or 
other, and that hope is enough to make them to be called the 
blessed souls. 

Pope Adrian the Third, confessed, that there was no men- 
tion of purgatory in scripture, or in the writings of the holy 
fathers ; but notwithstanding this, the council of Trent has set- 
tled the doctrine of purgatory without alleging any one pas- 
sage of the holy scripture, and gave so much liberty to priests 
and friars by it, that they build in that fiery palace, apartments 
for kings, princes, grandees, noblemen, merchants and trades- 
men, for ladies of quality, for gentlemen and tradesmen's wives, 
and for poor common people. These are the eight apartments 
which answer to the eight degrees of intensus ignis, i. e. in- 
tense fire ; and they make the people believe, that the poor 
people only endure the least degree ; the second being greater, 
is for gentlewomen and tradesmen's wives, and so on to the 
eighth degree, which being the greatest of all, is reserved for 
kings. By this wicked doctrine they get gradually masses 
from all sorts and conditions of people, in proportion to their 
greatness. But as the poor cannot give so many masses as 
the great, the lowest chamber of purgatory is always crowded 
with the reduced souls of those unfortunately fortunate people, 
for they say to them, that the providence of God has ordered 
every thing to the ease of his creatures, and that foreseeing 



154 



MASTEK-KEY TO POPERY. 



that the poor people could not afford the same number of mas- 
ses that the rich could, his infinite goodness had placed them 
in a place of less sufferings in purgatory. 

But it is a remarkable thing, that many poor, silly trades- 
men's wives, desirous of honor in the next world, ask the fri- 
ars whether the souls of their fathers, mothers, or sisters, can be 
removed from the second apartment (reckoning from the low- 
est) to the third, thinking by it, that though the third degree of 
fire is greater than the second, yet the soul would be better 
pleased in the company of ladies of quality ; but the worst is, 
that the friar makes such women believe, that he may do it 
very easily, if they give the same price for a mass the ladies of 
quality give. I knew a shoemaker's wife, very ignorant, proud, 
and full of punctilios of honor, who went to a Franciscan fri- 
ar, and told him that she desired to know whether her own 
father's soul was in purgatory or not, and in what apartment. 
The friar asked her how many masses she could spare for it; 
she said two; and the friar answered, your father's soul is 
among the beggars. Upon hearing this, the poor woman be- 
gan to cry, and desired the friar to put him, if possible, in the 
fourth apartment, and she would pay him for it ; and the quan- 
tum being settled, the friar promised to place him there the 
next day; so the poor woman eyer since gives out that her 
father was a rich merchant, for it was revealed to her, that his 
soul is among the merchants in purgatory. 

Now what can we say, but that the pope is the chief Gov- 
ernor of that vast place, and priests and friars the quarter-mas- 
ters that billet the souls according to their own fancies, and 
have the power, and give for money the king's apartments to 
the soul of a shoemaker, and that of a lady of quality to her 
washer- woman. 

But mind reader, how chaste the friars are in procuring a 
separate place for ladies in purgatory ; they suit this doctrine 
to the temper of a people whom they believe to be extremely 
jealous, and really not without ground of them, and so no soul 
of a woman can be placed among men. Many serious people 
are well pleased with this christian caution ; but those that are 
given to pleasure do not like it at all ; and I knew a pleasant 
young collegian, who went to a friar and told him : father, I 
own I love the fair sex; and I believe my soul will always re- 
tain that inclination. I am told that no man's soul can be in 
company with ladies, and it is a dismal thing for me to think, 
that I must go there, (but as for hell, I am in no danger of it, 
thanks to the pope,) where I shall never see any more women, 



MASTER-KEY TO FOFERY. 



155 



which will prove the greatest of torments to my soul : so I have 
resolved to agree with your reverence beforehand, upon this 
point. I have a bill of ten pistoles upon Peter la Vinna Ban- 
quer, and if you can assure me, either to send me straight to 
heaven when I die, or to the ladies apartment in purgatory, 
you shall have the bill ; and if you cannot, I must submit to the 
will of God, like a good christian. The friar seeing the bill, 
which he thought ready money, told him that he could do either 
of the two, and that he himself might choose which of the two 
places he pleased. But father (said the collegian,) the case is, 
that I love Donna Teresa Spinola, but she does not love me, 
and I do not believe that I can expect any favor from her in 
this worlo 1 , so I would know whether she is to go before me 
to purgatory or not. O! that is very certain (said the fri- 
ar.) I choose then (said the collegian,) the ladies apart- 
ment, and here is the bill, if you give me a certificate under 
your hand, that the thing shall be so; but the friar refusing to 
give him any authentic certificate, the collegian laughed at 
him, and made satirical verses upon him, which were printed, 
and which I read. I knew the friar too, who being mocked 
publicly, was obliged to remove from his convent to another 
in the country. 

Notwithstanding all these railleries, of which'the inquisitors 
cannot take notice, being not against the catholic faith ; priests 
and friars do daily endeavor to prove, that purgatory is a real 
existent place, and that by masses, the souls detained in it 
are daily delivered out of it, And this they prove by many 
revelations made to devout, pious people; and by many 
apparitions. 

They not only preach them publicly, but books are printed 
of such revelations and apparitions. I remember many of 
them, but I shall not trouble the reader with them ; only I 
will tell some of the most remarkable ones of my time. 

In the latter end of King Charles the Second's reign, a nun 
of Guadalarajara wrote a letter to his majesty, acquainting him, 
that it was revealed to her by an angel, that the soul of his 
father, Philip the IV. was still in purgatory, (all alone in the 
royal apartments) and likewise in the lowest chamber, the said 
king Philip's shoemaker, and that upon saying so many mass- 
es, both should be delivered out of it, and should go to enjoy 
the ravishing pleasures of an eternal life. The nun was repu- 
ted a saint upon earth, and the simple king gave orders to his 
confessor to say, or order so many masses to be said, for that 
purpose ; after which, the said nun wrote again to his majesty ; 



156 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



congratulating and wishing him joy, for the arrival of his fa- 
ther to heaven; but that the shoemaker, who was seven de- 
grees lower than Philip in purgatory, was then seven degrees 
higher than his majesty in heaven, because of his better life 
on earth, who never had committed any sin with women, as 
Philip had done all his life time, but that all was forgiven to 
him on account of the masses. 

Again, they give out in the pulpit, that the pope has an ab- 
solute power to make the mass efficacious to deliver the soul, 
for which it is said, out of that place ; and that his holiness can 
take at once all the souls out of it ; as Pious the Vth did, (as 
they report) who, when he was cardinal, was mighty devout, 
and a great procurer of the relief of souls, and who had prom- 
ised them with a solemn oath, that if, by their prayers in pur- 
gatory, he should be chosen Pope, then he would empty purga- 
tory of all the souls at once. At last, by the intercession of 
the souls with God Almighty, he was elected pope, and imme- 
diately he delivered all the souls out of that place ; but that 
Jesus Christ was so angry with the new pope, that he appeared 
to him, and bade him not to do any such thing again, for it was 
prejudicial to the whole clergy and friarship. That pope de- 
livered all the souls out of purgatory, by opening the treasure 
of the church, in which were kept millions of masses, which 
the popes make use of for the augmenting the riches of the 
holy see. But he took care not to do it again ; for though quod- 
cunque solveritis in Terra, erit solutum et in Cadis, there is 
not specified the same power in purgatory, therefore, ever 
since, the popes take no authority, nor liberty to sweep purga- 
tory at once, for it would prove their ruin, and reduce the 
clergy to poverty. 

When some ignorant people pay for a mass, and are willing 
to know whether the soul for which the mass is said, is, after 
the mass, delivered out of purgatory ; the friar makes them be- 
lieve, that the soul will appear in the figure of a mouse within 
the tabernacle of the altar, if it is not out of it, and then it is a 
sign that the soul wants more masses ; and if the mouse does 
not appear, the soul is in heaven. So when the mass is over, 
he goes to the tabernacle backwards, where is a little door with 
a crystal, and lets the people look through it: But O pitiful 
thing! They see a mouse which the friars keep, (perhaps for 
this purpose) and so the poor sots give more money for more 
masses, till they see the mouse no more. They have a reve- 
lation ready at hand, to say, that such a devout person was 
told by an angel, that the soul for which the mass is said, was 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



157 



to appear in the figure of a mouse in the sacrario or taber- 
nacle. 

Many other priests and friars do positively affirm, and we 
see many instances of it forged by them in printed books, that 
when they consecrate the host, the little boy Jesus doth appear 
to them in the host, and that is a sign that the soul is out of 
purgatory. There is a fine picture of St. Anthony de Paula, 
with the host in his hand, and the little Jesus is in the host, 
because that divine boy frequently appeared to him when he 
said mass, as the history of his life gives an account. But at 
the same time, they say, that no layman can see the boy Je- 
sus, because it is not permitted to any man but to priests to 
see so heavenly a sight: and by that means they give out what 
sort of stories they please, without any fear of ever being 
found out in a lie. 

As to the second day of November, which is the day of the 
souls of purgatory, in which every priest and friar sayeth three 
masses for the delivery of so many souls out of the pains of it, 
they generally say, that from three of the clock, of the first 
day of November (all-saints 1 day) till three in the afternoon, 
the next day, all the souls are out of purgatory, and entirely 
free from the pains of it; (those four and twenty hours being 
granted by his holiness for a refreshment to them) and that all 
that while they are in the air diverting themselves, and ex- 
pecting the relief of so many masses, to get by them the desi- 
red end, viz. The celestial habitations. On these twenty- 
four hours, they ring the bells of all the churches and con- 
vents, which (as they say) is a great suffrage and help to the 
souls, and on that day only, priests and friars get more money 
than they get in two months time beside ; for every family, and 
private persons too, give yellow wax candles to the church, 
and money for masses and responsa, i. e. a prayer for the 
dead, and all these twenty-four hours the churches are crowd- 
ed with people, and the priests and friars continually singing 
prayers for the dead, and this they call the priests and friars' 
fair day; which they solemnize with the continual ringing of 
bells, though they give out, that it is a suffrage for the souls 
of purgatory. 

And on the same pretence, there is a man in every parish 
that goes in the dark of the evening through all the streets 
with a bell, praying for the souls, and asking charity for them 
in every house, always ringing the bell as a suffrage. The 
duke of Ossuna made a witty repartee to pope Innocent the 
Xlth, on this subject. The duke was ambassador for the king 

O 



158 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



of Spain at Rome, and he had a large bell on the top of his 

house, to gather his domestics when he was going out. Many 
cardinals lived by his palace, and complained to the pope, that 
the ambassador's bell disturbed them; (for the duke used to or- 
der to ring the bell when he knew the cardinals were at home) 
and the pope spoke immediately to the duke, and asked his 
Excellency the reason of keeping so big a bell? To which 
the duke answered, that he was a very good christian, and a 
good friend to the souls of purgatory, to whom the ringing of 
the bell was a suffrage. The pope took in good part this rail- 
lery, and desired him to make use of some other signal to call 
his servants ; for that of the bell was very noisy, and a great 
disturbance to the cardinals, his neighbors ; and that if he was 
so good a friend to the souls of purgatory, he would do them 
more service by selling the bell, and giving the money for 
masses. 

To tell the truth the duke did not care for the souls, but all 
his design was to vex the cardinals : So the next day he or- 
dered to bring down the bell, and to put in the same place a 
cannon, or a great piece of ordnance, and to give twelve shots 
every morning and twelve at midnight, which was the time 
the cardinals were at home. So they made a second complaint 
to the pope ; upon this, he spoke to the duke again, and he 
answered to his holiness, that the bell was to be sold, and the 
money to be delivered to the priests for masses; but that he 
had ordered the cannon as a suffrage for the souls of the poor 
soldiers that had died in the defence of the holy see. The 
pope was very much affronted by this answer, and as he was 
caressing a little lap-dog he had in his arms, got up, and said, 
— Duke, I take more care of the souls of the poor soldiers 
than you of your own soul ; at which, the duke taking out of 
the pope's arms the lap-dog, and throwing him through the 
window, said, And, I take care to shew the pope how he ought 
to speak with the king of Spain, to whom more respect is due. 
Then the pope, knowing the resoluteness of the duke, and that 
his holiness could get nothing by an angry method, chose to 
let the thing drop there, rather than to make more noise ; so 
the duke kept his cannon piece, and the cardinals were obliged 
to remove their families into a more quiet place. 

A mendicant friar one day asked some charity from the 
same duke, for the souls of purgatory, and said, My lord, if 
you put a pistole in this plate, you shall take out of purgatory 
that soul for which you design it. The duke gave the pistole, 
and asked whether the soul of his brother was already out of 



MASTER-KEY TO rOFERY. 



159 



it? And when the friar said, Yea ; the duke took again his 
pistole, and told the friar, Now you cannot put his soul into 
purgatory again. And it is to be wished that every one was 
like that duke, and had the same resolution to speak the truth 
to the pope himself and all his quarter-masters. 

I have told in the first article of this chapter, that every 
Friday is appointed to say masses for the souls in purgatory, 
which did belong to corporations of fraternities, and what great 
profit priests, and especially friars, get by it. Now by this 
infallible custom and practice, we may say, that purgatory 
contains as many corporations of souls, as there are corpora- 
tions of tradesmen here below, which fraternities are more 
profitable to all sorts of communities of friars, than the living 
members of them upon earth. But some of these people, 
either out of pleasantry, or out of curiosity, ask sometimes in 
what part of the world, or of the air, is that place of purgatory? 
To which the friars answer, that it is between the centre of 
the earth and this earthly superfices ; which they pretend to 
prove, and make them believe by revelations, and especially 
by a story from a jesuit father, who in his travels saw the 
earth open by an earthquake, and in the deep a great many 
people of a flaming red color, from which nonsensical account 
they conclude, to blind the poor people, that those were the 
souls of purgatory, red as the very flame of fire. But observe, 
that no priest or friar would dare to tell such frivolous stories 
to people of good sense, but to the ignorant, of which there are 
great numbers in those parts of the world. 

When they preach a sermon of the souls, they make use of 
brimstone, and burn it in the pulpit, saying, that such flames 
are like those of the fire in purgatory. They make use of 
many pictures of the souls that are in the middle of devouring 
fire, lifting up their hands to heaven, as if they were crying 
for help and assistance. They prove their propositions with 
revelations and apparitions, for they cannot find in the scrip- 
ture any 1 passage to ground their audacious thoughts on, and 
such sermons are to the people of sense better diversion than 
a comedy; for besides the wretchedness of style and method, 
they tell so many sottish stories, that they have enough to 
laugh at afterwards for a long while. 

I went to hear an old friar, who had the name of an excel- 
lent preacher, upon the subject of the souls in purgatory, and 
he took his text out of the twenty-first chapter of the Apoc. 
27th verse : And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing 
that dejileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination; by 



160 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



which he settled the belief of a purgatory, proving by some 
romantic authority that such a passage ought to be under- 
stood of purgatory, and his chief authority was, because 
a famous interpreter, or expositor, renders the text thus: 
There shall not enter into it (meaning heaven) any thing 
which is not proved by the fire, as silver is purified by it. 
When he had proved this text, he came to divide it, which he 
did in these three heads : First, that the souls suffer in purga- 
tory three sorts of torments, of which the first was fire, and 
that greater than the fire of hell. Secondly, to be deprived of 
the face of God : And Thirdly, which was the greatest of all 
torments, to see their relations and friends here on earth di- 
verting themselves, and taking so little care to relieve them 
out of those terrible pains. The preacher spoke very little of 
the two first points, but he insisted upon the third a long hour, 
taxing the people of ingratitude and inhumanity ; and that if 
it was possible for any of the living to experience, only for a 
moment, that devouring flame of purgatory, certainly he would 
come again, and sell whatever he had in the world, and give 
it for masses : And what pity it is (said he) to know that there 
are the souls of many of my hearers' relations there, and 
none of them endeavor to relieve them out of that place. He 
went on and said : I have a catalogue of the souls, which, by 
revelation and apparition, we are sure are in purgatory; for 
in the first place, the soul of such a one (naming the soul of a 
rich merchant's father) appeared the other night to a godly 
person, in the figure of a pig, and the devout person, knowing 
that the door of his chamber was locked up, began to sprinkle 
the pig with holy water, and conjuring him, bade him speak, 
and tell him what he wanted? And the pig said, I am the 
soul of such an one, and I have been in purgatory these ten 
years for want of help. When I left the world, I forgot to tell 
my confessor where I left 1000 pistoles, which I had reserved 
for masses. My son found them out, and he is such an unnatu- 
ral child, that he doth not remember my pitiful condition ; and 
now by the permission of heaven, I come to you, and com- 
mand you to discover this case to the first preacher you meet, 
that he may publish it, and tell my son, that if he doth not 
give that money for masses for my relief, I shall be for ever 
in purgatory, and his soul shall certainly go to hell. 

The credulous merchant, terrified with this story, believing 
every tittle of it, got up before all the people, and went into 
the vestry, and when the friar had finished, he begged of him 
to go along with him to his house, where he should receive 



3IASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



161 



the money, which he did accordingly, for fear of a second 
thought ; and the merchant gave freely the 1000 pistoles, for 
fear that his father's soul should be kept in purgatory, and he 
himself go to hell. 

And besides these cheats and tricks, they make use of them- 
selves to exact money, they have their solicitors and agents 
that go from one house to another, telling stories of apparitions 
and revelations, and these are they which we call beatas and 
■devotas; for as their modesty in paparel, their hypocritical 
air, and daily exercises of confessing and receiving is well 
known in the world, the common people have so good an opin- 
ion of them, that they believe, as an article of faith, whatever 
stories they tell, without further inquiry into the matter : So 
those cunning, disguised devils (or worse) instructed by the 
friar their confessor, go and spread abroad many of these ap- 
paritions, by which they get a great deal of money for masses, 
which they give to the father confessor. 

Nay, of late, the old nuns, those that, to their grief, the 
world despises, have undertaken the trade of publishing reve- 
lations and apparitions of souls in purgatory, and give out that 
such a soul is, and shall be in it, until the father, mother, or 
sister, go to such a friar, and give him so many masses, which 
he is to say himself, and no other. And the case is, that by 
agreement between the old skeleton, and the covetous father, 
he is to give her one third of all the masses that he receives by 
her means and application. So you see the nature of this 
.place of purgatory, the apartments in it, the degrees of the 
fire of it, the means the priests and the friars make use of to 
keep in repair that profitable palace; and above all, the stu- 
pidity, sottishness and blindness of the people, to believe such 
dreams as matters of fact. What now can the Roman Cath- 
olics say for themselves ? I am aware that they will say that 
I am a deceiver and impostor. The Jews said of our Saviour, 
(John vii., v. 12.) some, that he was a good man; others said, 
nay but he deceiveth the people, when he was telling the 
truth. So I shall not be surprised at any calumny or injury 
dispersed by them; for I am sure in my conscience, before 
God and the world, that I write the truth. And let nobody 
mind the method in this account, for now I look upon the prac- 
tices and cheats of the priests and friars in this point of pur- 
gatory, as the most ridiculous, nonsensical, and roguish of all 
their tricks ; so how can a man that has been among them, 
and is now in the right way, write moderately, without ridi- 
culing them? 

o2 



162 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



I must dismiss this article with my address to the papist 
priests of England and Ireland. Some of them (immediately 
after my book was published and read by them) did command 
their parishioners in their respective mass houses (as I was 
told by a faithful friend) not to read my book, sub pena excom- 
mwncationis. Others made frivolous remarks on some of my 
observations and matters of fact; nay, a zealous protestant 
having lent one of my books to a Roman catholic lady, she 
gave it to her priest, and desired Ins opinion about it. The 
priest read it over, and corrected only five passages with his 
hand in the same book, of which I shall speak in my second 
part. Above all, this article of purgatory is the hardest thing 
to them ; but they ought to consider, that I speak only of my 
country people, and if they complain I must crave leave to say, 
that by that, they make us believe that the Spanish contagion 
has reached to them, and w r ant of the same remedy with the 
Spaniards, namely, a narrow searching into the matter, &,c. 



PART IV. 



Of the Inquisitors and their Practices. 

In the time of King Ferdinand the fifth, and Queen Isabel- 
la, the mixture of Jews, Moors, and Christians was so great, 
the relapses of the new converts so frequent, and the corrup- 
tions in matters of religion so bare-faced in all sorts and con- 
ditions of people, that the cardinal of Spain thought the intro- 
ducing the inquisition could be the only way of stopping the 
course of wickedness and vice ; so as the sole remedy to cure 
the irreligious practices of those times, the inquisition was es- 
tablished in the year 1471, in the court, and many other do- 
minions of Spain. 

The cardinal's design in giving birth to this tribunal, was 
only to suppress heresies, and chastise many horrible crimes 
committed against religion, viz; Blasphemy, sodomy, polyga- 
my, sorcery, sacrilege, and many others, which are also pun- 
ished in these kingdoms by the prerogative court, but not by 
making use of so barbarous means as the inquisition doth. 
The design of the cardinal was not blamable, being in itself 
good, and approved by all the serious and devout people of 
that time, but the performance of it was not so, as will appear 
by and by. 

I can only speak of the inquisition of Saragossa, for as I 
am treating of matters of fact, I may tell with confidence what 
I knew of it, as an eye-witness of several things done there. 
This tribunal is composed of three inquisitors, who are abso- 
lute judges,- for, from their judgment there is no appeal, not 
even to the pope himself, nor to a general council ; as doth 
appear from what happened in the time of king Philip the 
second, when the inquisitors having censured the cardinal of 
Toleda, the pope sent for the process and sentence, but the 
inquisitors did not obey him, and though the council of Trent 
discharged the cardinal, notwithstanding, they insisted on the 
performance and execution of their sentence. 

The first inquisitor is a divine, the second, a casuist, and 
the third, a civilian; the first and second are always priests, 

163 



164 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



and promoted from prebends to the high dignity of being holy 
inquisitors. The third sometimes is not a priest, though he is 
dressed in a clerical habit. The three inquisitors of my time 
were, first, Don Pedro Guerrero; second, Don Francisco 
Torrejon; third, Don Antonio Aliaga. This tribunal hath a 
high sheriff, and God knows how many constables and under 
officers, besides the officers that belong to the house, and that 
live in it; they have likewise an executioner; or we may say, 
there are as many executioners, as officers and judges, &c; 
besides these, there are many qualificators and familiares, of 
which I will give an account by themselves. 

The inquisitors have a despotic power to command every 
living soul ; and no excuse is to be given, nor contradiction 
to be made, to their orders ; nay, the people have not liberty 
to speak nor complain in their misfortunes, and therefore 
there is a proverb which says, Con la inquisition chiton: 
Do not meddle with the inquisition ; or, as to the inquisition 
say nothing. This will be better understood by the following 
account of the method they make use of for the taking up and 
arresting the people : which is thus : 

When the inquisitors receive an information against any 
body, which is always in private, and with such secrecy that 
none can know who the informer is (for all the informations 
are given in at night) they send their officers to the house of 
the accused, most commonly at midnight, and in a coach, — 
they knock at the door, (and then all the family are in bed) 
and when some body asks from the windows who is there ; 
the officers say, the holy inquisition. At this word, he that 
answered, without any delay, or noise, or even the liberty of 
giving timely notice to the master of the house, comes down 
to open the door. I say, without the liberty of giving timely 
notice, for when the inquisitors send the officers, they are 
sure, by the spies, that the person is within, and if they do 
not find the accused, they take up the whole family, and carry 
them to the inquisition: so the answerer is with good reason 
afraid of making any delay in opening the street door. Then 
they go up stairs and arrest the accused without telling a 
word, or hearing a word from any of the family, and with 
great silence putting him into the coach, they drive to the 
holy prison. If the neighbors by chance hear the noise of the 
coach, they dare not go to the window, for it is well known 
that no other coach but that of the inquisition is abroad at 
that time of the night; nay, they are so much afraid, that they 
dare not even to ask the next morning their neighbors any 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



165 



thing about it, for those that talk of any thing that the inqui- 
sition does, are liable to undergo the same punishment, and 
this, may be, the night following. So if the accused be the 
daughter, son, or father, &c, and some friends or relations 
go in the morning to see the family, and ask the occasion of 
their tears and grief, they answer that their daughter was 
stolen away the night before, or the son, or father or mother, 
(whoever the prisoner be) did not come home the night be- 
fore, and that they suspect he was murdered, &c. This an- 
swer they give, because they cannot tell the truth without ex- 
posing themselves to the same misfortune ; and not only this, 
but they cannot go to the inquisition to inquire for the pris- 
oner, for they would be confined for that alone. So all the 
comfort the family can have in such a case, is to imagine 
that the prisoner is in China, or in the remotest part of the 
world, or in hell, where in nullus or do sed sempiternus horror 
inhabitat. This is the reason why nobody knows the per- 
sons that are in the inquisition till the sentence is published 
and executed, except those priests and friars summoned to 
hear the trial. 

The qualificators and familiares which are in the city and 
country, upon necessity, have full power to secure any per- 
son suspected with the same secrecy, and commit him to the 
nearest commissary of the holy office of the inquisition, and 
he is to take care to send them safely to prison; which is all 
done by night, and without any fear that the people should 
deliver the prisoner, nay, or even talk of it. 

Qualificators, 

Are those, w T ho, by order from the inquisitors, examine the 
crimes committed by the prisoners against the catholic faith, 
and give their opinions or censures about it : they are obliged 
to secrecy as well as other people ; but as the number of them 
is great, the inquisitors must commonly make use of ten or 
twelve of the most learned that are in the city, in difficult 
cases ; but this is only a formality, for their opinions and cen- 
sures are not regarded, the inquisitors themselves being the 
absolute decisive judges. The distinguishing mark of a qual- 
ificator is the cross of the holy office, which is a medal of pure 
gold as big as a thirteen, with a cross in the middle, half 
white and half black, which they wear before their breast; 
but in public functions or processions, the priests and friars 
wear another bigger cross of embroidery on their cloak or 
habits. To be qualificator is a great honor to his whole fami- 



166 



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ly and relations, for this is a public testimony of the old Chris- 
tianity and pure blood (as they call it) of the family. 

No nobleman covets the honor of being qualificatory for they 
are all ambitious of the cross of St. James, of Alcantara, 
of Calatravia, of Mal+a, and the golden fleece, which are the 
five orders of the nobility; so the honor of a qualificator is for 
those people, who, though their families being not well known, 
are desirous to boast of their antiquity and christianism, 
though to obtain such honor, they pay a great sum of money : 
for, in the first place, he that desireth to be a qualificator, is 
to appear before the holy tribunal, to make a public profession 
of the catholic faith, and to acknowledge the holy tribunal 
for the supreme of all others, and the inquisitors for his own 
judges. This is the first step. After, he is to lay down on 
the table the certificate of his baptism, and the names of his 
parents for four generations ; the towns and places of their 
former habitations; and two hundred pistoles for the expenses 
in taking informations. 

This done, he goes home till the inquisitors send for him, 
and if they do not send for him in six months time he loseth 
the money and all hopes of getting the cross of qualificator; 
and this happens very often for the reasons I shall give by 
and by. 

The inquisitors send their commissaries into all the places 
of the new proponent's ancestors, where they may get some 
account of their lives and conversations, and of the purity of 
their blood, and that they never were mixed with Jewish fam- 
ilies, nor heretics, and that they were old Christians. These 
examinations are performed in the most rigorous and severe 
manner that can be ; for if some of the informers and witnesses 
are in a falsity, they are put into the inquisition ; so every body 
gives the report concerning the family in question, with great 
caution, to the best of his knowledge and memory. When 
the commissaries have taken the necessary informations with 
witnesses of a good name, they examine the parish book, and 
take a copy of the ancestors' names, the year and day of their 
marriages, and the year, day, and place of their burials. The 
commissaries then return to the inquisitors with all the exam- 
inations, witnesses, proofs, and convictions of the purity and 
ancient Christianity of the proponent's families, for four gener- 
ations; and being again examined by the three inquisitors, 
if they find them real and faithful, then they send the same 
commissaries to inquire into the character, life, and conversa- 
tion of the postulant, or demanding person, but in this point 



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167 



the commissaries pass by many personal failings, so when 
the report is given to the holy inquisitors, they send for the 
-postulant and examine him concerning matters of faith, the 
holy scriptures, the knowledge of the ancient fathers of the 
church, moral cases, all which is but mere formality, for the 
generality of the holy fathers themselves do not take much 
pains in the study of those things, and therefore the postulant 
is not afraid of their nice questions, nor very solicitous how to 
resolve them. 

When the examination is over, they order the secretary 
to draw the patent of the grant of the holy cross to such an 
one in regard to his families' old purity of blood and Christi- 
anity, and to his personal parts and religious conversation, 
certifying in the patent, that for four generations past, none 
of his father's or mother's relations were at all suspected in 
points concerning the holy Roman catholic faith, or mixed 
with Jewish or heretical blood. 

The day following, the postulant appears before the assem- 
bly of qualificators in the hall of the inquisition, and the first 
inquisitor celebrates the mass, assisted by the two qualifica- 
tors, as deacon and subdeacon. One of the oldest brethren 
preacheth a sermon on that occasion, and when the mass is 
over, they make a sort of procession in the same hall, and 
after it, the inquisitor gives the book of the gospel to the pos- 
tulant, and makes him swear the usual oaths ; which done, 
the postulant, on his knees, receiveth the cross or medal, from 
the hands of the inquisitor, who, with a black ribbon, puts it 
on the postulant's neck, and begins to sing te deum, and the 
collect of thanks, which is the end of the ceremonies. Then 
all the assistant qualificators congratulate the new brother, 
and all go up to the inquisitor's apartment to drink chocolate, 
and after that, every one to his own dwelling place. 

The new qualificator dineth with the inquisitors that day, 
and after dinner the secretary brings in a bill of all the fees 
and expenses of the informations; which he must clear be- 
fore he leaves the inquisition. Most commonly the whole 
comes to four hundred pistoles, including the two hundred he 
gave in the beginning; but sometimes it comes to a thousand 
pistoles, to those whose ancestors families were out of the 
kingdom, for then the commissaries expend a great deal more : 
and if it happen they find the least spot of Jewdaism, or Here- 
sy, in some relation of the family, the commissaries do not 
proceed any further in the examinations, but come back again 
to the inquisition immediately, and then the postulant is never 



168 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



sent for by the inquisitors, who keep the two hundred pistoles 
for pious uses. 

Familiares, 

Are always laymen, but of good sense and education. These 
wear the same cross, and for the granting of it, the inquisitors 
make the same informations and proofs as they make for qual- 
ificators. The honor and privileges are the same ; for they 
are not subject but to the tribunal of the inquisition. Their 
businesses are not the same ; for they are only employed in 
gathering together, and inquiring after all books against the 
catholic faith, and to watch the actions of suspected people. 
They take a turn sometimes into the country, but then they do 
not wear their cross openly till occasion requires it. They 
insinuate themselves into all companies, and they will even 
speak against the inquisition, and against religion, to try whe- 
ther the people are of that sentiment; in short they are spies 
of the inquisitors. They do not pay so much as the qualifica- 
tors, for the honor of the cross, but they are obliged to take a 
turn now and then in the country at their own expense. They 
are not so many in number as the qualificators, for in a trial 
of the inquisition, where all ought to be present, I once reck- 
oned 160, and twice as many qualificators. I saw the list of 
them both, i. e. of the whole kingdom of Aragon, wherein are 
qualificators, of the secular priests, 243 ; and of the regular, 
406; familiares, 208. 

The royal castle, formerly the palace of the king of Ara- 
gon, called Aljafeira, was given to the inquisitors to hold their 
tribunal there, and prison too. It is a musket shot distant from 
the city, on the river side. But after the battle of Almanza, 
when the duke of Orleans came as generalissimo of the Span- 
ish and French army, he thought that place necessary to put a 
strong garrison in ; so he made the marquis de Torsey governor 
of the fort of Aljafeira, and turned out the inquisitors; who, 
being obliged, by force, to quit their apartments, took a large 
house near the Carmelites' convent : but two months after, 
finding that the place was not safe enough to keep the prison- 
ers in, they removed to the palace of the earl of Tuents, in 
the great street called Coso, out of which they were turned 
by Monsieur de Legal, as I shall tell by and by. 

A form of their public trial. 
If the trial is to be made publicly, in the hall of the holy 
office, the inquisitors summon two priests out of every parish 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



169 



church, and two regular priests out of every convent; all the 
qualificators and familiares that are in the city ; the sheriff, 
and all the under officers; the secretary, and three inquisitors. 
All the aforesaid meet at the common hall on the day appoint- 
ed for the trial at ten in the morning. The hall is hung in 
black, without any windows, or light, but what comes in through 
the door. At the front there is an image of our Saviour on the 
cross, under a black velvet canopy, and six candlesticks with 
six thick yellow wax candles on the altar's table : On one side 
there is a pulpit, with another candle, where the secretary 
reads the crimes; three chairs for the three inquisitors, and 
round about the hall, seats and chairs for the summoned priests, 
friars, familiares, and other officers. 

When the inquisitors are come in, an under officer crieth 
out, Silence, silence, silence, the holy fathers are coming; — 
and from that very time, till all is over, nobody speaks nor 
spits ; and the thought of the place puts every body under 
respect, fear, and attention. The holy fathers, with their hats 
on their heads, and serious countenances, go, and kneeling 
down before the altar, the first inquisitor begins to give out, 
Veni Creator Spiritus, Mentos tuorum visita, &c. And the 
congregation sing the rest, and the collect being said by him 
also, every body sits down. The secretary then goes up to 
the pulpit, and the holy father rings a small silver bell, which 
is the signal for bringing in the criminal. What is done after- 
wards will be known by the following trial and instances, at 
which I was present, being one of the youngest priests of the 
cathedral, and therefore obliged to go to those dismal tragedies ; 
in which, the first thing, after the criminal comes in, and 
kneels down before the inquisitors, who receives a severe, 
bitter correction from the inquisitor, who measures it accord- 
ing to the nature of the crimes committed by the criminal; of 
all which, to the best of my memory, I will give an account 
in the first trial. 

Trial I. 

Of the reverend father Joseph Silvestre, Franciscan friar; 
and the mother Mary of Jesus, abbess of the monastery of 
Epila, of Franciscan nuns. Father Joseph was a tall, lusty 
man, 40 years of age, and had been 12 years professor of phi- 
losophy and divinity in the great convent of St. Francis. *Sor 

*Sor is a title given to the nuns, which answers to Sister, as coming from, 
the Latin Sorror. 

? 



170 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



Mary was 32 years old, mighty witty, and of an agreeable 
countenance. These two criminals were drest in brown 
gowns, painted all over with flames of fire, representing 
hell, a thick rope tied about their necks, and yellow wax 
candles in their hands. Both, in this dull appearance, came 
and prostrated themselves at the inquisitor's feet, and the first 
holy father began to correct them in the following words 

Unworthy creatures, how can our catholic Roman faith be 
preserved pure, if those who, by their office and ministry, 
ought to recommend its observance in the most earnest man- 
ner, are not only the first, but the greatest transgressors of 
it? Thou that teachest another not to steal, not to commit 
fornication, 'dost thou steal and commit sacrilege, which is 
worse than fornication? In these things we could show you 
pity and compassion ; but as to the transgressions of the ex- 
press commandments of our church, and the respect due to 
us the judges of the holy tribunal, we cannot; therefore your 
sentence is pronounced by these holy fathers of pity and 
compassion, lord inquisitors, as you shall hear now, and after- 
wards undergo. 

Sor Mary was in a flood of tears ; but father Joseph, who 
was a learned man, with great boldness and assurance, 
said, What, do you call yourselves holy fathers of pity and 
compassion ? I say unto you, that you are three devils 
on earth, fathers of all manner of mischief, barbarity and 
lewdness. 

No inquisitors were ever treated at such a rate before, and 
we were thinking that friar Joseph was to suffer fire, for this 
high affront to them. But Don Pedro Guerrero, first judge, 
though a severe, haughty, passionate man, ordered only a gag, 
or bit of a bridle to be put into his mouth; but friar Joseph 
flying into a fury, said, I despise all your torments, for my 
crimes are not against you, but against God, who is the only 
judge of my conscience, and you do yet worse things, &c. 

The inquisitors ordered to carry him to prison, while the 
crimes and sentence were reading. So he was carried in, 
and the nun with great humility heard the accusation and 
sentence. 

The secretary, by order, began to read, 1st. That friar 
Joseph was made father confessor, and sor Mary mother ab- 
bess. That in the beginning they showed a great example 
of humility and virtue to the nuns ; but afterwards all this 
zeal of theirs appeared to be mere hypocrisy, and a cover for 
their wicked actions : for as she had a grate in the wall of 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



171 



friar Joseph's room, they both did eat in private, and fast in 

Sublic : That the said friar Joseph was found in bed with sor 
lary by such a nun ; and that she was found with child, and 
took a remedy to prevent the public proof of it : That both 
friar Joseph and sor Mary had robbed the treasure of the con- 
vent; and that one day they were contriving how to go away 
into another country, and that they had spoken in an irreve- 
rent manner of the pope and inquisitors. 

This was the whole accusation against them, which friar 
Joseph and sor Mary had denied before, saying, it was only 
hatred and malice of the informers against them, and desired 
the witnesses to be produced before them ; and this being 
against the custom of the holy office, the holy fathers had 
pronounced the sentence, viz : That friar Joseph should be 
deprived of all the honors of his order, and of active and 
passive voice, and be removed to a country convent, and be 
whipped three times a week for the space of six weeks. That 
sor Mary should be deprived of her abbacy, and removed into 
another monastery : this punishment being only for their au- 
dacious and unrespectful manner of talking against the pope 
and inquisitors. 

Indeed, by this sentence we did believe, that the crimes they 
were charged with were only an invention of the malicious 
nuns; but poor friar Joseph suffered for his indiscretion; for 
though the next day the inquisitors gave out that he escaped 
out of prison, we really believe he had been strangled in the 
inquisition. 

This was the first trial I was present at, and the second 
was that of Mary Guerrero and friar Michael Navarro, of 
which I have given an account in the chapter of auricular 
confessions. After these two trials the inquisitors were turn- 
ed out by monsieur de Legal, and for eight months we had no 
inquisition. How this thing happened, is worthy of obser- 
vation ; therefore I shall give a particular account of it, that 
I may not deprive the public of so pleasant a story. 

In 1706, after the battle of Almanza, the Spanish army be- 
ing divided into two bodies, one through the kingdom of Va- 
lencia, to the frontiers of Catalonia, commanded by the duke 
of Berwick; the other composed of the French auxiliary 
troops, 14,000 in number, went to the conquest of Arragon, 
whose inhabitants had declared themselves for king Charles 
III. The body of French troops was commanded by his high- 
ness the duke of Orleans, who was the generalissimo of the 
whole army. Before he came near the city, the magistrates 



172 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



went to meet him, and offered the keys of the city, but he re- 
fused them, saying, he was to enter it through a breach ; and 
so he did, treating the people as rebels to their lawful king. 
And when he had ordered all the civil and military affairs of 
the city, he went down to the frontiers of Catalonia, leaving 
his lieutenant-general, monsieur de Jofreville, governor of the 
town. But this governor being a mild tempered man, was 
loth to follow the orders left him as to the contribution money : 
So he was called to the army, and the lieutenant-general, mon- 
sieur de Legal, came in his place. The city was to pay 1,000 
crowns a month, for the duke's table, and every house a pis- 
tole, which by computation made the sum of 18,000 pistoles a 
month, which were paid eight months together; besides this, 
the convents were to pay a donative, or gift, proportionable to 
their rents. The college of Jesuits were charged 2,000 pis- 
toles, the Dominicans 1,000, Augustins 1,000, Carmelites 
1,000, &c. Monsieur de Legal sent first to the Jesuits, who 
refused to pay, saying, it was against the ecclesiastical immu- 
nity : But Legal, not acquainted with these sort of excuses, 
sent four companies of grenadiers to quarter in their college 
at discretion : The father sent immediately an express to the 
king's father confessor, who was a jesuit, with complaints 
about the case : But the grenadiers did make more expedition 
in their plundering and mischiefs, than the courier did in his 
journey. So the fathers, seeing the damage all their goods 
had already received, and fearing some violence upon their 
treasure, went to pay monsieur Legal the 2,000 pistoles as a 
donative. 

Next to this he sent to the Dominicans. The friars of this 
order are all familiares of the holy office, and depending upon 
it, they did excuse themselves in a civil manner, saying, they 
had no money, and if monsieur de Legal had a mind to insist 
upon the demand of the 1000 pistoles, they could not pay 
them, without sending to him the silver bodies of the saints. 
The friars thought by this to frighten monsieur de Legal, and 
if he was so resolute as to accept the offer, to send the saints 
in a procession, and raise the people, crying out Heresy, Her- 
esy. De Legal answered to the friars, that he was obliged to 
obey the duke's orders, and so he would receive the silver 
saints : So the friars all in a solemn procession, and with 
lighted candles in their hands, carried the saints to the gover- 
nor Legal : And as soon as he heard of this public devotion 
of the friars, he ordered immediately four companies of grena- 
diers to line the streets on both sides, before his house, and to 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



173 



keep their fuzees in one hand, and a lighted candle in the oth- 
er, to receive the saints with the same devotion and venera- 
tion. And though the friars endeavored to raise the people, 
nobody was so bold as to expose themselves to the army, there 
being left eight regiments to keep the mob under fear and sub- 
jection. Legal received the saints, and sent them to the mint, 
promising to the father prior to give him what remained above 
the 1,000 pistoles. The friars being disappointed in the pro- 
ject of raising the people, went to the inquisitors to desire 
them to release immediately their saints out of the mint, by 
excommunicating monsieur de Legal, which the inquisitors 
did upon the spot; and the excommunication being drawn and 
signed, they gave strict orders to their secretary to go and 
read it before monsieur de Legal, which he did accordingly : 
And monsieur the governor, far from flying into a passion, 
with a mild countenance took the paper from the secretary, 
and said, Pray, tell your masters, the inquisitors, that I will 
answer them to-morrow morning. The secretary went away 
fully satisfied with LegaPs civil behaviour. The same min- 
ute, as if he was inspired by the holy spirit, without reflecting 
upon any consequence, he called his own secretary, he bid 
him draw a copy of the excommunication, putting out the 
name of Legal, and inserting in its place the holy Inquisitors. 
The next morning he gave orders for four regiments to be 
ready, and sent them along with his secretary to the inquisi- 
tion, with command to read the excommunication to the inquis- 
itors themselves, and if they made the least noise, to turn them 
out, open all the prisons, and quarter two regiments there. He 
was not afraid of the people, for the duke took away all the 
arms from every individual person, and on pain of death com- 
manded that nobody should keep but a short sWord; and be- 
sides, four regiments were under arms, to prevent all sorts of 
tumult and disturbance : So his secretary went and performed 
the governor's orders. The inquisitors were never more sur- 
prised than to see themselves excommunicated by a man that 
had no authority for it, and resenting it, they began to cry out, 
War against the heretic de Legal; this is a public insult 
against our catholic faith. To which the secretary answered, 
Holy Inquisitors, the king wants this house to quarter his 
troops in, so walk out immediately : And as they continued in 
their exclamations, he took the inquisitors, with a strong guard, 
and carried them to a private house destined for them; but 
when they saw the laws of military discipline, they begged 
leave to take their goods along with them, which was immedi- 

p 2 



174 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



ately granted ; and the next day they set out for Madrid, to 
complain to the king, who gave them this slight answer : I am 
very sorry for it, but I cannot help it; my crown is in danger, 
and my grandfather defends it, and this is done by his troops ; 
if it had been done by my troops, I should apply a speedy rem- 
edy: But you must have patience till things take another 
turn. So the inquisitors were obliged to have patience for 
eight months. 

The secretary of monsieur de Legal, according to his or- 
ders, opened the doors of all the prisons, and then the wicked- 
nesses of the inquisitors were detected, for four hundred pris- 
oners got liberty that day, and among them sixty young women 
were found very well drest, who were, in all human appear- 
ance, the number of the three inquisitors' Seraglio, as some 
of them did own afterwards. But this discovery, so danger- 
ous to the holy tribunal, was in some measure prevented by 
the archbishop, who went to desire monsieur de Legal to send 
those women to his palace, and that his grace would take care 
of them; and that in the mean time, he ordered an ecclesias- 
tical censure to be published against those that should defame, 
by groundless reports, the holy office of the inquisition. The 
governor answered to his grace, he would give him all the as- 
sistance for it he could ; but as to the young women, it was not 
in his power, the officers having hurried them away : And in- 
deed it was not; for it is not to be supposed that the inquisi- 
tors, having the absolute power to confine in their Seraglio 
whomsoever they had a fancy for, would choose ordinary girls, 
but the best and handsomest of the city : So the French offi- 
cers were all so glad of getting such fine mistresses, that they 
immediately took them away, knowing very well they would 
follow them to the end of the world for fear of being confined 
again. In my travels in France afterwards, I met with one 
of those women at Rotchfort, in the same inn I went to lodge 
in that night, who had been brought there by the son of the 
master of the inn, formerly lieutenant in the French service 
in Spain, who had married her for her extraordinary beauty 
and good parts. She was the daughter of counsellor Ballabri- 
ga, and I knew her before she was taken up by the inquisi- 
tors' orders: but we thought she was stolen by some officer; 
for this was given out by her father, who died of grief and 
vexation, without the comfort of opening his trouble, nay, 
even to his confessors, so great is the fear of the inquisitors 
there. 

I was very glad to meet one of my country-women in my 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



175 



travels; and as she did not remember me, and especially in 
my then disguise, I was taken for nothing but an officer. I 
resolved to stay there the next day, to have the satisfaction of 
conversing with her, and have a plain account of what we 
could not know in Saragossa, for fear of incurring the eccle- 
siastical censure, published by the archbishop. Now my con- 
versation with her being a propos, and necessary to discover 
the roguery of the inquisitors, it seems proper to divert the rea- 
der with it. 

Mr. Faulcaut, my country-woman's husband, was then at 
Paris, upon some pretensions; and though her father .and 
mother-in-law were continually at home, they did not mistrust 
me, I being a countryman of their daughter-in-law, who freely 
came to my room at any time ; and as I was desiring her not 
to expose herself to any uneasiness on my account, she an- 
swered me, Captain, we are now in France, not in Saragossa, 
and we enjoy here all manner of freedom, without going be- 
yond the limits of sobriety ; so you may be easy in that point, 
for my father and mother-in-law have ordered me to be obli- 
ging to you, nay, and to beg the favor of you to take your re- 
pose here this week, if your business permit it, and to be 
pleased to accept this their small entertainment on free-cost, 
as a token of their esteem to me, and my country-gentleman. 
If it had not been for my continual fear of being discovered, I 
would have accepted the proposition ; so I thanked her, and 
begged her to return my hearty acknowledgment to the gen- 
tleman and lady of the house, and that I was very sorry, that 
my pressing business, at Paris, would prevent and hinder me 
to enjoy so agreeable company: but if my business was soon 
despatched at Paris, then, at my return, I would make a halt 
there, may-be for a fortnight. Mrs. Faulcaut was very much 
concerned at my haste to go away : but she did make me prom- 
ise to come back again that way. So amidst these compli- 
ments from one to another, supper came in, and we went to it, 
the old man and woman, their daughter and I: none but Mrs. 
Faulcaut could speak Spanish, so she was my interpreter, for 
I could not speak French. After supper, the landlord and 
landlady left us alone, and I began to beg of her the favor to 
tell me the accident of her prison, of her sufferings in the in- 
quisition, and of every thing relating to the holy office ; and 
fear not, (said I,) for we are in France, and not in Saragossa; 
here is no inquisition, so you may safely open your heart to a 
countryman of yours. I will, with all my heart, (said she,) 



176 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



and to satisfy your curiosity, I shall begin with the occasion 
of my imprisonment, which was as follows. 

I went one day with my mother to visit the countess of At- 
tarass, and I met there Don Francisco Torrejon, her confessor, 
and second inquisitor of the holy office. After we had drunk 
chocolate, he asked my age, and my confessor's name, and so 
many intricate questions about religion, that I could not an- 
swer him. His serious countenance did frighten me, and as 
he perceived my fear, he desired the countess to tell me, that 
he was not so severe as I took him to be : after which he ca- 
ressed me in the most obliging manner in the world ; he gave 
me his hand, which I kissed with great respect and modesty ; 
and when he went away, he told me, My dear child, I shall re- 
member you till the next time. I did not mind the sense of 
the words; for I was unexperienced in matters of gallantry, 
being only fifteen years old at that time. Indeed he did re- 
member me, for the very night following, while in bed, hear- 
ing a hard knocking at the door, the maid went to the window, 
and asking, Who is there? I heard say, The holy inquisition. 
I could not forbear crying out, Father, father, I am ruined for 
ever. My dear father got up, and inquiring what the matter 
was, I answered him, with tears, The inquisition; and he, for 
fear that the maid should not open the door as quick as such a 
case required, went himself, as another Abraham, to open the 
door, and to offer his dear daughter to the fire of the inquisi- 
tors, and as I did not cease to cry out, as if I was a mad girl, 
my dear father, all in tears, did put in my mouth a bit of a 
bridle, to show his obedience to the holy office, and his zeal 
for the catholic faith, for he thought I had committed some 
crime against religion ; so the officers gave me but time to put 
on my clothes, took me down into the coach, and without giv- 
ing me the satisfaction of embracing my dear father and 
mother, they carried me into the inquisition. I did expect to 
die that very night; but when they carried me into a noble 
room, well furnished, and an excellent bed in it, I was quite 
surprised. The officers left me there, and immediately a maid 
came in with a salver of sweetmeats and cinnamon water, de- 
siring me to take some refreshment before I went to bed : I 
told her that I could not; but that I should be obliged to her, 
if she could tell me whether I was to die that night or not? 
Die, (said she,) you do not come here to die, but to live like a 
princess, and you shall want nothing in the world but the lib- 
erty of going out; and now pray mind nothing, but to go to 
bed, and sleep easy, for to-morrow you shall see wonders in 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



177 



this house, and as I am chosen to be your waiting maid, I hope 
you will be very kind to me. I was going to ask her some 
questions, but she told me, Madam, I have not leave to tell 
you any thing else till to-morrow, only that nobody shall come 
to disturb you ; and now I am going about some business, and 
I will come back presently, for my bed is in the closet near 
your bed : So she left me there for a quarter of an hour. The 
great amazement I was in, took away all my senses, or the 
free exercise of them, for I had not liberty to think of my parents, 
nor of grief, nor of the danger that was so near me : So in this 
suspension of thought, the waiting-maid came and locked the 
chamber door after her, and told me, Madam, let us go to bed, 
and only tell me at what time in the morning you will have 
the chocolate ready ? I asked her name, and she told me it 
was Mary. Mary, for God's sake, (said I, ) tell me whether I 
come to die or not? I have told you, madam, that you came 
(she said) to live as one of the happiest creatures in the world. 
And as I observed her reservedness, I did not ask her any 
more questions : So recommending myself to God Almighty, 
and to our lady of Pilar, and preparing myself to die, I went to 
bed, but could not sleep one minute. I was up with the day, 
but Mary slept till six of the clock : Then she got up, and won- 
dering to see me up, she said to me, Pray, madam, will you 
drink chocolate now 1 Do what you please (said I) : then she 
left me half an hour alone, and she came back with a silver 
plate with two cups of chocolate, and some biscuit on it. I 
drank one cup, and desired her to drink the other, which she 
did. Well, Mary, (said I,) can you give me any account of the 
reason of my being here ? Not yet, madam, (said she,) but 
only have patience for a little while. With this answer she 
left me ; and an hour after came again with two baskets, with 
a fine holland shift, a holland under petticoat, with fine lace 
round it; two silk petticoats and a little Spanish waistcoat, 
with a gold fringe all over it; with combs and ribbons, and 
every thing suitable to a lady of higher quality than I : But 
my greatest surprise was to see a gold snurT-box, with a pic- 
ture of Don Francisco Torrejon in it. Then I soon under- 
stood the meaning of my confinement. So I considered with 
myself, that to refuse the present would be the occasion of my 
immediate death ; and to accept of it, was to give to him, even 
on the first day, too great encouragement against my honor. 
But I found, as I thought then, a medium in the case ; sol said, 
Mary, pray give my service to Don Francisco Torrejon, and 
tell him, that as I could not bring my clothes with me last 



178 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



night, honesty permits me to accept of these clothes, which 
are necessary to keep me decent,- but since I take no snuff, I 
beg his lordship to excuse me, if I do not accept this box. 
Mary went to him with this answer, and came again with a 
picture nicely set in gold, with four diamonds at the four cor- 
ners of it, and told me, that his lordship was mistaken, and 
that he desired me to accept that picture, which would be a 
great favor to him : and while 1 was thinking with myself 
what to do, Mary said to me, Pray, madam, take my poor ad- 
vice, accept the picture, and every thing that he sends to you ; 
for consider, that if you do not consent and comply with every 
thing he has a mind for, you will soon be put to death, and 
no body will defend you • but if you are obliging and kind *to 
him, he is a very complaisant and agreeable gentleman, and 
will be a charming lover, and you will be here like a queen, 
and he will give you another apartment, with a fine garden, 
and many young ladies shall come to visit you : So I advise 
you. to send a civil answer to him, and desire a visit from him, 
or else you will soon begin to repent yourself. O dear God, 
(said I,) must I abandon my honor without any remedy ! If I 
oppose his desire, he by force will obtain it. So, full of con- 
fusion, I bid Mary to give him what answer she thought fit. 
She was very glad of my humble submission, and went to 
give Don Francisco my answer. She came back a few min- 
utes after, all overjoyed, to tell me, that his lordship would 
honor me with his company at Supper, and that he could not 
come sooner on account of some business that called him 
abroad ; but in the mean time desired me to mind nothing, but 
how to divert myself, and to give to Mary my measure for a 
suit of clothes, and order her to bring me every thing I could 
wish for. Mary added to this, Madam, I may call you now 
my mistress, and must tell you, that I have been in the holy 
office these fourteen years, and I know the customs of it very 
well ; but because silence is imposed upon me ur^der pain of 
death, I cannot tell you any thing but what concerns your 
person : So, in the first place, do not oppose the holy father's 
will and pleasure : Secondly, if you see some young ladies 
here, never ask them the occasion of their being here, nor any 
thing of their business, neither will they ask you any thing 
of this nature, and take care not to tell them any thing of your 
being here ; you may come and divert yourself with them at 
such hours as are appointed ; you shall have music, and all 
sorts of recreations ; three days hence you shall dine with 
them; they are all ladies of quality, young and merry, and 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



179 



this is the best of lives ; you will not long for going abroad, 
you will be so well diverted at home ; and when your time is 
expired, then the holy fathers will send you out of this coun- 
try, and marry you to some nobleman. Never mention the 
name of Don Francisco, nor your name to any. If you see 
here some young ladies of your acquaintance in the city, they 
will never take notice of your formerly knowing each other, 
though they will talk with you of indifferent matters ; so take 
care not to speak any thing of your family. 

All these things together made me astonished, or rather 
stupified, and the whole seemed to me a piece of enchant- 
ment; so that I could not imagine what to think of it. With 
this lesson she left me, and told me she was going to order my 
dinner ; and every time she went out, she locked the door after 
her. There were but two high windows in my chamber, and 
I could see nothing through them ; but examining the room 
all over, I found a closet with all sorts of historical and pro- 
fane books, and every thing necessary for writing. So I 
spent my time till the dinner came in, reading some diverting 
amorous stories, which was a great satisfaction to me. When 
Mary came with the things for the table, I told her that I 
was inclined to sleep, and that I would rather sleep than go 
to dinner ; so she asked me whether she should awaken me 
or not, and at what time ? Two hours hence (said I,) so I 
lay down and fell asleep, which was a great refreshment to 
me. At the time fixed she wakened me, and I went to din- 
ner, at which was every thing that could satisfy the most nice 
appetite. After dinner she left me alone, and told me, 
if I wanted any thing, I might ring the bell and call : So 
I went to the closet again, and spent three hours in reading. 
I think really I was under some enchantment, for I was in a 
perfect suspension of thought, so as to remember neither father 
nor mother, for this run least in my mind, and what was at 
that time most in it, I do not know. Mary came and told me, 
that Don Francisco was come home, and that she thought he 
would come to see me very soon, and begged of me to prepare 
myself to receive him with all manner of kindness. At seven 
in the evening Don Francisco came, in his night-gown and 
night-cap, not with the gravity of an inquisitor, but with the 
gaiety of an officer. He saluted me with great respect and 
civility, and told me that he had designed to keep my company 
at supper, but could not that night, having some business of 
consequence to finish in his closet; and that his coming to see 
roe was only out of the respect he had for my family, and to 



180 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



tell me at the same time, that some of my lovers had procured 
my ruin forever, accusing me in matters of religion ; that the 
informations were taken, and the sentence pronounced against 
me, to be burnt alive, in a dry pan, with a gradual fire, but 
that he, out of pity and love to my family, had stopped the ex- 
ecution of it. Each of these words was a mortal stroke on my 
heart, and knowing not what I was doing, I threw myself at 
his feet, and said, Seignor, have you stopped the execution 
for ever? That only belongs to you to stop it, or not (said he); 
and with this he wished me a good night. As soon as he went 
away, I fell a crying; but Mary came and asked me what 
obliged me to cry so bitterly? Ah! good Mary, (said I,) pray 
tell me what is the meaning of the dry pan and gradual fire ? 
For I am in expectation of nothing but death, and that by it. 
O, pray never fear, you will see another day the pan and grad- 
ual fire ; but they are made for those that oppose the holy fa- 
thers' will, not for you, who are so ready to obey them. But, 
pray, was Don Francisco very civil and obliging ? I do not 
know, (said I,) for his discourse has put me out of my wits; 
that I know that he saluted me with respect and civility, but 
he has left me abruptly. Well, (said Mary,) you do not know 
him ; he is the most obliging man in the world, if people are 
civil with him, and if not, he is as unmerciful as Nero; and so 
for your own preservation, take care to oblige him in all res- 
pects ; now, pray go to supper, and be easy. I was so much 
troubled in mind with the thoughts of the dry pan and gradual 
fire, that I could neither eat nor sleep that night. Early in 
the morning Mary got up, and told me, that nobody was yet 
up in the house, and that she would show me the dry pan and 
gradual fire, on condition, that I should keep it a secret for her 
sake, and my own too; which I having promised her, she took 
me along with her and showed me a dark room with a thick 
iron door, and within it an oven, and a large brass pan upon 
it, with a cover of the same, and a lock to it; the oven was 
burning at that time, and I asked Mary for what use the pan 
was there ? And she, without giving me any answer, took me 
by the hand, out of that place, and carried me into a large room, 
where she showed me a thick wheel, covered on both sides 
with thick boards, and opening a little window, in the centre 
of it, desired me to look with a candle on the inside of it, and 
I saw all the circumference of the wheel set with sharp razors. 
After that she showed me a pit full of serpents and toads. Then 
she said to me, Now, my good mistress, I'll tell you the use of 
these three things. The dry pan and gradual fire are for her- 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



etics, and those that oppose the holy father's will and pleasure, 
for they are put all naked and alive into the pan, and the cover 
of it being locked up, the executioner begins to put in the oven 
a small fire, and by degrees he augmenteth it till the body is 
burnt to ashes. The second is designed for those that speak 
against the pope, and the holy fathers ; and they are put with- 
in the wheel, and the door being locked, the executioner turns 
the wheel till the person is dead. And the third is for those 
that contemn the images, and refuse to give the due respect 
and veneration to ecclesiastical persons, for they are thrown 
into the pit, and there they become the food of serpents and 
toads. 

Then Mary said to me, that another day she would shew 
me torments for public sinners, and transgressors of the five 
commandments of our holy mother the church ; so I, in a deep 
amazement, desired Mary to shew me no more places, for the 
very thoughts of those three, which I had seen, were enough 
to terrify me to the heart. So we went to my room, and she 
charged me again to be very obedient to all the commands Don 
Francisco should give me, or to be assured, if I did not, I was 
to undergo the torment of the dry pan. Indeed I conceived 
such an horror for the gradual fire, that I was not mistress of 
my senses, nay, nor cf my thoughts : so I told Mary that I 
would follow her advice. If you are in that disposition (said 
she) leave off all fears and apprehensions, and expect nothing 
but pleasure and satisfaction, and all manner of recreation, 
and you shall begin to experience some of these things this 
very day. Now let me dress you, for you must go to wish a 
good morrow to Don Francisco, and to breakfast with him. I 
thought really this was a great honor to me, and some comfort 
to my troubled mind ; so I made all the haste I could, and Ma- 
ry conveyed me through a gallery into Don Francisco's apart- 
ment. He was still in bed, and desired me to sit down by 
him, and ordered Mary to bring the chocolate two hours after, 
and with this she left me alone with Don Francisco. Mary 
came with the chocolate, and kneeling down, paid me homage 
as if I was a queen; and served me first with a cup of choco- 
late, still on her knees, and bade me give another cup to Don 
Francisco myself, which he received mighty graciously, and 
having drunk up the chocolate, she went out. So at ten of the 
clock, Mary came again, and dressing me, she desired me to 
go along with her, and leaving Den Francisco in bed, she car- 
ried me into another chamber very delightful, and better fur- 
nished than the first ; for the windows of it were lower, and I 
Q 



182 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



had the pleasure of seeing the river and the gardens on the 
other side out of it. Then Mary told me. Madam, the young 
ladies of this house will come before dinner to welcome you, 
and make themselves happy in the honor of your company, 
and I will take you to dine with them. Pray remember the ad- 
vices I have given you already, and do not make yourself un- 
happy by asking useless questions. She had not finished these 
words, when I saw entering my apartment, (which consisted 
of a large anti-chamber and a bed-chamber with two large 
closets) a troop of young beautiful ladies, finely dressed, who 
all, one after another, came to embrace me, and to wish me 
joy. My senses were in a perfect suspension, and I could not 
speak a word, nor answer their kind compliments. But one 
of them seeing me so silent, said to me, Madam, the solitude 
of this place will affect you in the beginning, but when you 
begin to be in our company, and feel the pleasure of our 
amusements and recreations, you will quit your pensive 
thoughts. Now we beg of you the honor to come and dine 
with us to-day, and henceforth three days in a week. I thanked 
them, and we went to dinner. That day we had all sorts of 
exquisite meats, and were served with delicate fruits and 
sweet-meats. The room was very long, with two tables on 
each side, another at the front of it, and I reckoned in it that 
day, 52 young ladies, the oldest of them not exceeding 24 
years of age ; six maids served the whole number of us, but 
my Mary waited on me alone at dinner. After dinner we 
went up stairs into a long gallery, all round about with lattice 
windows ; where, some of us playing on instruments of music, 
others playing at cards, and others walking about, we spent 
three hours together. At last, Mary came up, ringing a small 
bell, which was the signal to retire into our rooms, as they 
told me ; but Mary said to the whole company, Ladies, to-day 
is a day of recreation, so you may go into what room you 
please, until eight o'clock, and then you are to go into your 
own chambers : so they all desired leave to go with me to my 
- apartment, to spend the time there, and I was very glad that 
they preferred my chamber to another ; so all going down to- 
gether, we found in my anti-chamber a table, with all sorts of 
sweet-meats upon it, iced cinnamon water, and almonds milk, 
and the like, every one ate and drank, but nobody spoke a 
word, touching the sumptuousness of the table, nor mentioned 
any thing concerning the inquisition of the holy fathers. So 
we spent our time in merry, indifferent conversation, till eight 
o'clock. Then every one retired into their own room, and 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



183 



Mary told me that Don Francisco did wait for me, so we went 
to his apartment, and supper being ready, we both alone sat at 
table, attended by my maid only. After supper Mary went 
away, and next morning she served us with chocolate, which 
we drank, and then slept till ten o'clock. Then we got up, 
and my waiting maid carried me into my chamber, where I 
found ready, two suits of clothes, of a rich brocade, and every 
thing else, suitable to a lady of the first rank. I put on one, 
and when I was quite dressed, the young ladies came to wish 
me a good morrow, all dressed in different clothes, and better 
than the day before, and we spent the second and third days in 
the same recreation. But the third morning after drinking 
chocolate, as the custom was, Mary told me, that a lady was 
waiting for me in the other room, and desired me to get up, 
with a haughty look. I thought that it was to give me some 
new comfort and diversion ; but I was very much mistaken, for 
Mary conveyed me into a young lady's room, not eight feet 
long, which was a perfect prison, and there, before the lady, 
told me, Madam, this is your room, and this young lady your 
bedfellow and comrade, and left me there with this unkind 
command. O heavens ! thought I, what is this that has hap- 
pened to me ? I fancied myself out of grief, and I perceived 
now the beginning of my vexation. What is this, dear lady, 
(said I) is this an enchanted palace, or a hell upon earth? I 
have lost father and mother, and what is worse, I have lost my 
honor and my soul forever. My new companion, seeing me 
like a mad woman, took me by the hands, and said to me, 
Dear sister, (for this is the name I will give you henceforth) 
leave off your crying, leave off your grief and vexation; for 
you can do nothing by such extravagant complaints, but heap 
coals of fire on your head, or rather under your body. Your 
misfortunes and ours are exactly of a piece : you suffer noth- 
ing that we have not suffered before you ; but we are not al- 
lowed to show our grief, for fear of greater evils. Pray, take 
good courage, and hope in God ; for he will find some way or 
other to deliver us out of this hellish place ; but above all things, 
take care not to shew any uneasiness before Mary, who is the 
only instrument of our torments, or comfort, and have patience 
till we go to bed, and then without any fear, I will tell you 
more of the matter. We do not dine with the other ladies to- 
day, and may be, we shall have an opportunity of talking be- 
fore night, which I hope will be of some comfort to you. I was 
in a most desperate condition, but my new sister Leonora 
(this was her name) prevailed so much upon me, that I over- 



184 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



came my vexation before Mary came again, to bring our din- 
ner, which was very different from that I had three days be- 
fore. After dinner, another maid came to take away the plat- 
ter and knife, for we had but one for us both, so locked the 

door. 

Now, my sister, said she, we need not fear being disturbed 
all this night : so I may safely instruct you, if you will prom- 
ise me, upon the hopes of salvation, not to reveal the secret, 
while you are in this place, of the things I shall tell you. I 
threw myself down at her feet, and promised secrecy. Then 
she begun to say : My dear sister, you think it a hard case 
that has happened to you, T assure you all the ladies in this 
house have already gone through the same, and in time you 
shall know all their stories, as they hope to know yours. I 
suppose that Mary has been the chief instrument of ,your 
fright, as she has been of ours, and I warrant you she has 
shown to you some horrible places, though not all, and that at 
the only thought of them, you were so much troubled in your 
mind, that you have chosen the same way we did to get some 
ease in our heart. By what has happened to us, we know 
that Don Francisco has been your Nero; for the three colors 
of our clothes are the distinguishing tokens of the three holy 
fathers : The red silk belongs to Francisco, the blue to Guer- 
rero, and the green to Aliaga. For they used to give, the 
three first days, these colors to those ladies that they bring for 
their use. We are strictly commanded to make all demonstra- 
tions of joy, and to be very merry three days, when a young 
lady comes' here, as we did with you, and you must do with 
others. But after it we live like prisoners, without seeing any 
living soul but the six maids, and Mary, who is the house-keep- 
er. We dine all of us, in the hall, three days a week, and 
three days in our rooms. When any of the holy fathers have 
a mind for one of his slaves, Mary comes for her at nine of 
the clock, and conveyeth her to his apartment: but as they 
have so many, the turn comes, may-be once in a month, ex- 
cept for those who have the honor to give them more satisfac- 
tion than ordinary, those are sent for often. Some nights Ma- 
ry leaves the door of our rooms open, and that is a sign that 
some of the fathers have a mind to come that night, but he 
comes in so silent that we do not know whether he is our own 
patron or not. If one of us happen to be with child, she is re- 
moved to a better chamber, and she sees no person but the 
maid till she is delivered. The child is sent away, and we do 
not know where it is gone. Mary does not suffer quarrels 



MASTEE-KEY TO POPEEY. 



185 



between us, for if one happens to be troublesome she is bit- 
terly chastised for it : So we are always under a continual 
fear. I have been in this house these six years, and I was 
not fourteen years of age, when the officers took me from my 
father's house, and I have been brought to bed but once. We 
are at present fifty-two young ladies, and we loose every year 
six or eight, but we do not know, where they are sent; but at 
the same time we get new ones, and sometimes I have seen 
here seventy-three ladies. ' All our continual torment is to 
think, and with great reason, that when the holy fathers are 
tired of one, they put her to death ; for they will never run 
the hazard of being discovered in these misdemeanors : So, 
though we cannot oppose their commands, and therefore we 
commit these enormities, yet we still fervently pray God and 
blessed mother, to forgive us them, since it is against our wills 
we do them, and to preserve us from death in this house. So 
my dear sister, arm yourself with patience, and put your trust 
in God, who will be our only defender and deliverer. 

This discourse of Leonora did ease me in some measure, and 
I found every thing as she had told me. And so we lived to- 
gether eighteen months, in which time we lost eleven ladies, 
and we got nineteen new ones. I knew all their stories, which 
I cannot tell you to night, but if you will be so kind as to stay 
here this week, you will not think your time lost when you 
come to know them all. I did promise her to stay that week, 
with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction ; but though it 
was very late, and the people of the house were retired, I beg- 
ged her to make an end of the story concerning herself, 
which she did in the following manner: 

After the eighteen months, one night, Mary came and or- 
dered us to follow her, and going down stairs, she bade us go 
into a coach, and this we thought the last day of our lives. 
We went out of the house, but where, we did not know, and 
were put into another house, which was worse than the first 
where we were confined several months, without seeing any of 
the Inquisitors, or Mary, or any of our companions : And in the 
same manner we were removed from that house to another, 
where we continued till we were miraculously delivered by 
the French officers. Mr. Faulcaut, happily for me, did open 
the door of my room, and as soon as he saw me, he began to 
show me much civility, and took me and Leonora along with 
him to his lodgings, and after he heard my whole story, and 
fearing that things would turn to our disadvantage, he ordered 
the next day to send us to his father. We were drest in men's 

Q2 



186 



MASTER-KEY TO rOPERY. 



clothes, to go the more safely, and so we came to this house, 
where I was kept for two years as the daughter of the old man, 
till Mr. Faulcaut's regiment being broke, he came home, and 
two months after, married me. Leonora was married to an- 
other officer, and they live in Orleans, which being in your way 
to Paris, I do not question but you will pay her a visit. Now 
my husband is at court, soliciting a new commission, and he 
will be very glad of your acquaintance, if he has not left Pa- 
ris before you go to it. Thus ended our first entertainment 
the first night. 

I stayed there afterwards twelve days, in which she told me 
the stories of all the young ladies, which Leonora did repeat to 
me without any alteration, as to the substantial points of them. 
But these diverting accounts, containing more particular cir- 
cumstances touching the horrible procedure of the tribunal, 
but more especially, being full of amorous intrigues, I think fit 
not to insert them here, but to give them in a separate book, to 
the public if desired ; for as I have many other things to say 
touching the corruptions of the Romish priests, these accounts 
may be inserted there, to shew the ill practices and corrup- 
tions of the inquisitors. So I proceed to speak of the new quar- 
ters of the French troops in the inquisition, and of the restora- 
tion of the holy fathers into it, and afterwards I will go on with 
the instances of the public trials. 

When the Marquis de Taurcey was chosen Governor of the 
fort of Aljaferia, where formerly the holy office was kept, he 
put a strong garrison into it; the holy fathers were obliged to 
remove, and take away their prisoners ; but they did wail all 
the doors of their secret prisons, where they used to keep the 
hellish engines, so we could not then know any thing of their 
barbarity in the punishment of innocents, and I think, that as 
they did consider themselves as unsettled, and being in hopes 
to recover again the former place, they did not remove their 
inhuman instruments of torment, so there were none found in 
the last house when they were turned out: nay, among so 
great a number of prisoners delivered out of it, we could con- 
verse with none of them, for as soon as they got out, for fear 
of a new order from the king or pope, they made their escape 
out of the country, and they were much in the right of it, for 
the inquisition is a place to be very much feared, and not to 
be tried a second time, if one can help it. 

At last, after eight months reprieve, the same inquisitors 
came again with mere power than before, for Don Pedro Guer- 
rero, first Inquisitor, was chosen by the Pope, at King Philip's 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



187 



request, ecclesiastical judge, for priests, friars, and nuns, to 
examine and punish crimes of disaffection to his majesty: So, 
for a while, he was Pope, King, and Tyrant. The first thing 
he did was to give the public an account of the crimes for 
which all the prisoners that had been delivered, were confined 
in the inquisition, to vindicate this way the honor of the three 
Inquisitors, commanding at the same time, all sorts of persons 
to discover and secure any of the said prisoners, under pain of 
death. This proclamation was a thing never before heard of, 
and we may say, that satisf actio non petita, generat suspicion- 
em: for really, by this, they did declare themselves guilty of 
what was charged on them, in relation to the Seraglio, in the 
opinion of serious, sensible people. But every body was ter- 
rified by the said proclamation, and none dared to say any 
thing about it. 

The unmerciful Guerrero, like a roaring lion, began to de- 
vour all sorts of people, showing, by this, his great affection 
to the king, and fervent zeal for the pope ; for, under pretence 
of their being disaffected to his majesty, he confined, and that 
publicly, near three hundred friars, and one hundred and fifty 
priests, and a great number of the laity. Next to this, he 
made himself master of their estates, which were sold publicly, 
being bought by the good loyal subjects. He did suspend, ab 
officio et beneficio, many secular priests, and banished them 
out of the dominions of Spain ; whipt others publicly, banished 
and whipt friars, and took the liberty insolently to go into 
the monastery of the nuns of St. Lucia, and whipt six of them 
for being affected to Charles the Hid, and he imprisoned Don- 
na Catherina Cavero, only for being the head of the imperial 
faction. But observe, that this whipping of the nuns is only 
giving them a discipline, i. e. so many strokes with a rod on 
the shoulders ; but Guerrero was so impudent and barefaced 
a Nero, that commanding the poor nuns to turn their habits 
backwards, and discover their shoulders, he himself was the 
executioner of this unparalleled punishment. 

As to the laity that were put into the inquisition, and whose 
estates were seized, we did not hear any thing of them, but I 
am sure they did end their miserable lives in that horrid place. 
Many of them left a great family behind them, who all were 
reduced to beggary; for when the heads of them were confi- 
ned, all the families must suffer with them : And this is the 
reason, why more than two thousand families left the city, 
and every thing they had, rather than undergo the miseries of 
that time, and the cruel persecution of Guerrero. So we may 



188 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



believe, that having so great authority as he had, he soon 
could recruit his Seraglio. 

Though Guerrero was so busy in the affairs of the king, he 
did not forget the other business concerning the catholic faith; 
so, to make the people sensible of his indefatigable zeal, he 
began again to summons priests and friars to new trials, of 
which I am going to speak. 

The trial of a Friar of St. Jerome, organist of the convent 
in Saragossa. 

All the summoned persons being together in the hall, the 
prisoner and a young boy were brought out; and after the first 
inquisitor had finished his bitter correction, the secretary read 
the examinations and sentence, as follows : 

Whereas, informations were made, and by evidences prov- 
ed, .that Fr. Joseph Peralta has committed the crime of Sodomy, 
with the present John Romeo, his disciple, which the said 
Romeo himself, owned upon interrogatories of the holy in- 
quisitors : they having an unfeigned regard for the order of 
St. Jerome, do declare and condemn the said Fr. Joseph 
Peralta, to a year's confinement in his own convent, but 
that he may assist at the divine service, and celebrate mass. 
Item, for an example to other like sinners, the holy fathers 
declare that the said John is to be whipped through the pub- 
lic streets of the town, and receive at every corner, as it is a 
custom, five lashes ; and that he shall wear a coroza, i. e. a 
sort of a mitre on his head, feathered all over, as a mark of 
his crime. Which sentence is to be executed on Friday 
next, without any appeal. 

After the secretary had done, Don Pedro Guerrero did ask 
Fr. Joseph, whether he had any thing to say against the sen- 
tence or not? And he answering, no, the prisoners were car- 
ried back to their prisons, and the company were dismissed. 
Observe the equity of the inquisitors in this case : the boy was 
but fourteen years of age, under the power of Fr. Joseph, and 
he was charged with the penalty and punishment Fr. Joseph 
did deserve. The poor boy was whipped according to the 
sentence, and died the next day. 

The Trial of Father Pueyo, Confessor of the Nuns at St, 
Munica. 

This criminal had been but six days in the inquisition, be- 
fore he was brought to hear his sentence, and every thing be- 
ing performed as before, the secretary read : 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



189 



Whereas father Pueyo has committed fornication with five 
spiritual daughters, (so the nuns which confess to the same 
confessor continually, are called) which is, besides fornication, 
sacrilege and transgression of our commands, and he himself 
having owned the fact, we therefore declare that he shall keep 
his cell for three weeks, and lose his employment, &c. 

The inquisitor asked him whether he had any thing to say 
against it: and father Pueyo said, holy father, I remember 
that when I was chosen father confessor of the nuns of our 
mother St. Monica, you had a great value for five young ladies 
of the monastery, and you sent for me, and begged of me to 
take care of them : so I have done, as a faithful servant, and 
may say unto you, Domine quinque talenta tradidisti me, ecce 
alia quinque super lucratus sum. The inquisitors could not 
forbear laughing at this application of the scripture ; and Don 
Pedro Guerrero was so well pleased with this answer, that 
he told him, you said well: Therefore, Peccata tua remittun- 
tur tibi, nunc vade in pace, et noli amplius peccare. This was 
a pleasant trial, and Pueyo was excused from the performance 
of his penance by this impious jest. 

The trial and sentence of the Licentiate Lizondo. 

The secretary read the examinations, evidence and convic- 
tions, and the said Lizondo (who was a licentiate, or Master of 
Arts) himself did own the fact, which was as follows : 

The said Lizondo, though an ingenious man, and fit for the 
sacerdotal function, would not be ordained, giving out that he 
thought himself unworthy of so high dignity, as to have every 
day the Saviour of the world in his hands, after the consecra- 
tion. And by this feigned humility he began to insinuate 
himself into the people's opinion, and pass for a religious, god- 
ly man, among them. He studied physic, and practised it only 
with the poor, in the beginning; but being called afterwards 
by the rich and especially by the Nuns, at last he was found 
out in his wickedness,- for he used to give something to make 
the young ladies sleep, and this way he obtained his lascivious 
desires. But one of the evidences swore that he had done 
these things by the help of magic, and that he had used only 
an incantation, with which he made every body fall asleep : — 
But this he absolutely denied, as an imposition and falsity. — 
We did expect a severe sentence, but it was only that the li- 
centiate was to discover to the inquisitors, on a day appointed 
by them, the receipt for making the people sleep ; and that the 
punishment to be inflicted on him, was to be referred to the 



190 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



discretion of the holy fathers. We saw him afterwards every 
day, walking in the streets ; and this was all his punishment. 
We must surely believe that such crimes are reckoned but a 
trifle among them, for very seldom they show any great dis- 
pleasure or severity to those that are found guilty of them. 

Of the Order of the Inquisitors to arrest an Horse, and to bring 
him to the Holy Office. 
The case well deserves my trouble in giving a full account 
of it; so I will explain it from the beginning to the end. The 
rector of the university of Saragossa has his own officers to ar- 
rest the scholars, and punish them if they commit any crime. 
Among their officers there was one called Guadalaxara, who 
was mighty officious and troublesome to the collegians or stu- 
dents; for upon the least thing in the world he arrested them. 
The scholars did not love him at ail, and contrived how they 
should punish him, or to play some comical tricks upon him. 
At last, some of the strongest agreed to be at the bottom of the 
steeple of the university in the evening, and six of them in the 
belfry, who were to let down a lusty young scholar, tied with 
a strong rope, at the hearing of the word war. So the schol- 
ars that were in the yard, and at the bottom of the steeple, 
picked a quarrel purposely to bring Guadalaxara there, and 
when he was already among them, arresting one, they cried 
out war. At which sign the six in the steeple let down the 
tied scholar, who taking in his arms Guadalaxara, and being 
pulled up by the six, he carried him almost 20 feet high, and 
let him fall down. The poor man was crying out, O Jesus ! 
the Devil has taken me up. The students that were at the 
bottom had instruments of music, and put off their cloaks to 
receive him in, and as he cried out, the Devil, the Devil, the 
musicians answered him with the instruments, repeating the 
same words he pronounced himself, and with this, gathering 
together great numbers of scholars, they took him in the mid- 
dle, continuing always the music and songs, to prevent, by this, 
the people's taking notice of it, and every body believed that it 
was only a mere scholastic diversion : So, with this melody 
and rejoicings, they carried the troublesome Guadalaxara out 
of the gates of the city into the field, called the Burnt Place, 
because formerly the heretics were burnt in that field. There 
was a dead horse, and opening his belly, they tied the poor 
officer by the hands and legs, and placed him within the horse's 
belly, which they sewed, leaving the head of Guadalaxara 
out, under the tail of the horse, and so they went back into 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



191 



the city. How dismal that night was to the poor man, any 
body may imagine ; but yet it was very sweet to him, in com- 
parison to what he suffered in the morning ; for the dogs going 
to eat of the dead horse's flesh, he, for fear they should eat off 
his head, continually cried out, ho! ho \ perros, i. e. dogs, and 
that day he found that not only the scholars, but even the very 
dogs were afraid of him, for dogs did not dare approach the 
dead horse. The laborers of the city, who were a most igno- 
rant sort of people, but very pleasant in their rustic expres- 
sions, going out to the field, by break of the day, saw the dogs 
near the horse, and heard the voice, ho! ho! perros. They 
looked up and down, and seeing nobody, drew near the horse, 
and hearing the same voice, frightened out of their senses, 
went into the city again, and gave out that a dead horse was 
speaking in the burnt field; and as they affirmed and swore 
the thing to be true, crowds of people went to see and hear 
the wonder, or, as many others said, the miracle of a dead 
horse speaking. A public notary was among the mob, but no 
one dared to go near the horse. The notary went to the in- 
quisitors to make affidavit of this case, and added that no one 
having courage enough to approach the horse, it was proper 
to send some of the friars, with holy water and stola, to exorcise 
the horse, and find out the cause of his speaking. But the 
inquisitors who think to command beasts, as well as reasonable 
creatures, sent six of their officers, with strict orders, to carry 
the horse to the holy office. The officers having an opinion 
that the devil must submit to them, went, and approaching the 
horse, they saw the head under the tail, and the poor man cry- 
ing out, help, take me out of this putrified grave ; for God's 
sake, good people, make haste, for I am not the devil, nor ghost, 
nor apparition, but the real body and soul of Guadalaxara, 
the constable of the university; and I do renounce, in this place, 
the office of arresting scholars forever; and I do forgive them 
this wrong done to me, and thanks be to God, and to the Vir- 
gin of Pilar, who has preserved my body from being convert- 
ed into a dead horse, that I am alive still. 

These plain demonstrations of the nature of the thing did not 
convince, in the least, the officers of the inquisition, who are 
always very strict in the performance of the orders given 
them; so they took the dead horse and carried it to the inqui- 
sition. Never were more people seen in the streets and win- 
dows than on that day, besides the great crowd that followed 
the corpse, which I saw myself ; the inquisitors having notice 
beforehand, went to the hall to receive the informations from 



192 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the horse; and after they had asked him many questions, the 
poor man pushed up the tail with his nose to speak, to see, and 
to be seen, still answering them; the wise holy fathers trust- 
ing not to his information, gave orders to the officers to carry 
the speaking horse to the torture, which being done according- 
ly, as they began to turn the ropes through the horse's belly, 
at the third turning of them the skin of the belly broke, and 
the real body of Guadalaxara appeared in all his dimensions, 
and by the horse's torture, he saved his life. The poor man 
died three weeks after, and he forgave the scholars who con- 
trived this mischief, and an elegy was made on his death. 

Thesis defended by F. James Garcia, in the hall of the 
Inquisition. 

The case of the Rev. father F. James Garcia, made a great 
noise in Spain, which was thus : 

This same James Garcia is the learned man of whom I have 
spoken several times in my book. His father, though a shoe- 
maker by trade, was very honest and well beloved, and as 
God had bestowed on him riches enough, and having but one 
child, he gave him the best education he could, in the college 
of Jesuits, where, in the study of grammar, he signalized him- 
self for his vivacity and uncommon wit. After going to the 
university, he went through philosophy and divinity, to the 
admiration of his masters; he entered St. Augustin's order, 
and after his noviciate was ended, desired to obtain the degree 
of master of arts; he defended public thesis of philosophy, 
and after, other thesis of divinity, without any moderator to 
answer for him in case of necessity. The thesis and some 
propositions were quite new to the learned people ; for among 
other propositions, one was Innocentium esse verum pontificem, 
non est defde, i. e. it is not an article of faith that Innocent is the 
true pope. And next to this proposition, this other: Non cre- 
dere quod non video, non est contra fidem. It is not against 
the Catholic faith not to believe what I do not see. 

Upon account of these two propositions, he was summoned 
by the inquisitors, and ordered to defend the said propositions 
separately, in the hall of the inquisition, and answer for six 
days together, to all the arguments of the learned Quali- 
ficators, which he did, and kept his ground, that instead of 
being punished for it, he was honored with the cross of the 
Qualificator, after the examinations were made of the purity 
of his blood. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



193 



Sentence given against Lawrence Castro, goldsmith of Sar- 
agossa. 

Lawrence Castro was the most famous and wealthy gold- 
smith in the city, and as he went one day to carry a piece of 
plate to Don Pedro Guerrero, before he paid him, he bade him 
go and see the house along with one of his domestic servants, 
which he did, and seeing nothing but doors of iron, and hear- 
ing nothing but lamentations of the people within ; having re- 
turned to the inquisitor's apartment, Don Pedro asked him, 
Lawrence, how do you like this place ? To which Lawrence 
said, I do not like it at all, for it seems to me the very hell up- 
on earth. This innocent, but true answer, was the only occa- 
sion of his misfortune ; for he was immediately sent into one 
of the hellish prisons, and at the same time many officers went 
to his house to seize upon every thing, and that day he appear- 
ed at the bar, and his sentence was read : he was condemned 
to be whipped through the public streets, to be marked on his 
shoulders with a burning iron, and to be sent forever to the 
gallies : but the good, honest, unfortunate man died that very 
day; all his crime being only to say, that the holy office did 
seem to him hell on earth. 

At the same time, a lady of good fortune was whipped, be- 
cause she said in company, I do not know whether the pope is 
a man or a woman, and I hear wonderful things of him every 
day, and I imagine he must be an animal very rare. For 
these words she lost honor, fortune and life, for she died six 
days after the execution of her sentence : and thus the holy 
fathers punish trifling things, and leave unpunished horrible 
crimes. 

The following instance will be a demonstration of this truth, 
and show how the inquisitors favor the ecclesiastics more than 
the laity, and the reason why they are more severe upon one 
than the other. 

In the diocess of Murcia was a parish priest in a village in 
the mountains. The people of it were almost all of them 
shepherds, and were obliged to be always abroad with their 
flocks : so the priest being the commander of the shepherdess- 
es, began to preach every Friday in the afternoon, all the con- 
gregation being composed of the women of the town. His 
constant subject was, the indispensable duty of paying the 
tithes to him, and this not only of the fruits of the earth, but 
of the seventh of their sacraments too, which is matrimony, 
and he had such great eloquence to persuade them to secrecy, 



194 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



as to their husbands, and a ready submission to him, that he 
began to reap the fruit of his doctrine in a few days, and by 
this wicked example, he brought into the list of the tithes all 
the married women of the town, and he received from them 
the tenth for six years together ; but his infernal doctrine and 
practice was discovered by a young woman who was to be 
married, of whom the priest asked the tithe before hand; but 
she telling it to her sweet-heart, he went to discover the case 
to the next commissary of the inquisition, who having examin- 
ed the matter, and found it true, he took the priest and sent 
him to the inquisition; he was found guilty of so abominable a 
sin, and he himself confessed it; and what was the punishment 
inflicted on him 1 Only to confine him m a friar's cell for six 
months. The priest being confined, made a virtue of neces- 
sity, and so composed a small book', entitled, The True Peni- 
tent, which was universally approved by all sorts of people, for 
solid doctrine and morality. He dedicated the work to the ho- 
ly inquisitors, who, for a reward of his pains , gave him anoth- 
er parish a great deal better than the first. But hardened 
wretch ! There he fell again to the same trade of receiving 
the tithes ; upon which the people of the parish complained to 
the governor, who acquainted the king with the case, and his 
majesty ordered the inquisitors to apply a speedy remedy to 
it; so the holy fathers sent him to the pope's gallies for five 
years time. 

I must own, it is quite against my inclination to give this 
and the like accounts, for it will seem very much out of the 
way of a clergyman; but if the reader will make reflections on 
them, and consider that my design is only to shew how unjust- 
ly the inquisitors act in this and other cases, he will certainly 
excuse me; for they really deserve to be ridiculed more than 
argued against, reasoning being of no force with them, but a 
discovery of their infamous actions and laws, may-be will pro- 
duce, if not in them, in some people at least, a good effect. 

The Roman Catholics believe there is a purgatory, and that 
the souls suffer more pains in it than in hell. But I think the 
inquisition is the only purgatory on earth, and the holy fathers 
are the judges and executioners in it. The reader may form 
a dreadful idea of the barbarity of that tribunal, by what I 
have already said, but I am sure it will never come up to what 
it is in reality, for it passeth all understanding, not as the 
•peace of God, but as the war of the devil. 

So that we may easily know by this, and the aforesaid ac- 
count, that they leave off all observance of the first precepts 



MASTER-KEY TO FOFEKY. 



195 



of the holy office, and chastise only those that speak either 
against the pope, clergy, or the holy inquisition. 

The only reason of settling that tribunal in Spain, was to 
examine and chastise sinners, or those that publicly contem- 
ned the faith. But now a man may blaspheme and commit the 
most heinous crimes, if he says nothing against the three men- 
tioned articles, is free from the hellish tribunal. 

Let us except from this rule the rich Jews, for the poor are 
in no fear of being confined there ; they are the rich alone 
that suffer in that place, not for the crime of Jewdaism, 
(though this is the color and pretence,) but the crime of hav- 
ing riches. Francisco Alfaro, a Jew, and a very rich one, 
was kept in the inquisition of Seville four years, and after he 
had lost all he had in the world, was discharged out of it with 
a small correction : this was to encourage him to trade again 
and get more riches, which he did in four years time. Then 
he was put again in the holy' office, with the loss of his goods 
and money. And after three years imprisonment he was dis- 
charged, and ordered to wear for six months, the mark of 
San-Benito, i. e. a picture of a man in the middle of the fire 
of hell, which he was to wear before his breast publicly. — 
But Alfaro a few days after, left the city of Seville, and seeing 
a pig without the gate, he hung the San-Benito on the pig's 
neck, and made his escape. I saw this Jew in Lisbon, and 
he told me the story himself, adding, Now I am a poor Jew, 
I tell every body so, and though the inquisition is more severe 
here than in Spain, nobody takes notice of me. I am sure 
they would confine me forever, if I had as much riches as I 
had in Seville. Really, the holy office is more cruel and in- 
human in Portugal than in Spain, for I never saw any publicly 
burnt in my own country, and I saw in Lisbon seven at once, 
four young women and three men; two young women were 
burnt alive and an old man, and the others were strangled first. 

But being obliged to dismiss this chapter, and leave out ma- 
ny curious histories, I promise to relate them in the second 
part of this work. Now let me entreat all true protestants to 
join with me in hearty prayer to God almighty. 

O eternal God, who dost rule the hearts of kings, and or- 
derest every thing to the glory of the true religion, pour thy 
holy spirit upon the heart of Louis the first, that he may see 
the barbarous, unchristian practices of the inquisitors, and 
with a firm resolution abolish all laws contrary to those given 
us by thy only son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



PART IV. 



Of their Prayers, Adoration of Images, and Relics. 

ARTICLE I. 
Of their Prayers. 

The prayers sung or said, in the church, are seven canon- 
ical hours, or the seven services, viz : Tertia, Sexta, Nona, 
Vaspera, Matutina, and Complete. — Prima is composed of the 
general confession, three psalms, and many other prayers, 
with the Martyrologio Sanctorum, i. e. with a commemoration 
of all the saints of that day. Tertia is a prayer or service 
of three psalms, anthem, and the collect of the day, &c. 
Sexta and Nona are the same. Vesperce, or evening songs, 
contain five anthems, five psalms, an hymn, Magnificat, or my 
soul doth magnify, &c, with an anthem, collect of the day, 
and commemorations of some saints. Matutina, or matins, 
is the longest service of the seven, for it contains, 1st. The 
psalm. O come let us sing: 2d. An hymn: 3d. Three anthems, 
three psalms, and three lessons of the Old Testament: 4th. 
Three anthems, three psalms, and three lessons of the day, 
i. e. of the life of the saint of that day, or the mystery of it: 
5th. Three anthems, three psalms, three lessons, of which the 
first beginneth with the gospel of the day, and two or three 
lines of it, and the rest is an homily, or exposition of the gos- 
pel: 6th. Te Deum: 7th. Five anthems, five psalms, an hymn, 
anthem of the day, the psalm, Blessed be the Lords of Israel, 
&lc, the collect of the day, and some commemorations. — 
Complete, or complices, is the last service, which -contains the 
general confession, an anthem, three or four psalms, and Lord 
now lettest thou, &c, and some other adherent prayers for the 
Virgin, the holy cross, saints, &c. All these seven services 
are said, or sung, in Latin, every day in the cathedral churches, 
but not in all the parish churches. 

In the cathedral churches on the festivals of the first class, 
or the greatest festivals, as those of Christ and the Virgin 

196 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



197 



Mary, all the seven canonical hours are sung, Prima at six 
in the morning, and a mass after it. Tertia at ten, the great 
mass after, and after the mass, Sexta and Nona. At two, or 
three in the afternoon, the evening song; at seven, complices; 
and half an hour after midnight, the matins. In the festivals 
of the second class, as those of the apostles, and some saints 
placed in that class by the popes, Tertia, evening songs and 
matins are all that are sung, and likewise every day, though 
not with organ, nor music. 

In the parish churches the priests sing only Tertia, and eve- 
ning songs on Sundays and festivals of the first class j except 
where there are some foundations, or settlements for singing 
evening songs on other private days. But the great mass is 
always sung in every parish church, besides the masses for 
the dead, which are settled to be sung. 

In the convents of the friars, they observe the method of 
the cathedral, except some days of the week granted to them 
by the prior, as recreation days, and then they say the service, 
and go to divert themselves all the day after. As to the nuns, 
I have given an account in the first chapter of their lives and 
conversation. 

The priests and friars that do not say, or sing the service 
with the community, are obliged in conscience to say those 
seven canonical hours every day, and if they do not, they com- 
mit a mortal sin, and ought to confess it among the sins of omis- 
sion. Besides these seven services, they have, not by pre- 
cept, but by devotion, the service, or small office of the Vir- 
gin Mary, the seven penitential psalms, and other prayers of 
saints, which are by long custom become services of precept, 
for they never will dare to omit them, either for devotion's 
sake, or for fear that the laity would tax them with coldness 
and negligence in matters of exemplary devotion. 

As to the public prayers of the laity, they all are contained 
in the beads or rosary of the Virgin Mary, and to give them 
some small comfort, there is a fixed time in the evening in 
every church for the rosary. The sexton rings the bell, and 
when the parishioners, both men and women, are gathered 
together, the minister of the parish,, or any other priest, comes 
out of the vestry, in his surplice, and goes to the altar of the 
Virgin Mary, and lighting two or more candles on the altar's 
table, he kneels down before the altar, makes the sign of the 
cross, and begins the rosary with a prayer to the Virgin : and 
after he has said half of the Ave Maria, &c, the people say 
the other half, which he repeats ten times, the people doing. 



198 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



the same. Then he says Gloria Patri, &c. ; and the people 
answer, As it was in the beginning, &c. Then, in the same 
manner, the priest says half of Our Father, and ten times half 
Ave Maria, and so he and the people do, till they have said 
them fifty times. This done, the priest says another prayer 
to the Virgin, and begins her litany, and after every one of 
her titles, or encomiums, the peole answer Ora pro nobis, 
pray for us. The litany ended, the priest and people visit 
five altars, saying before each of them one Pater Noster, and 
one Ave Maria, with Gloria Patri; and lastly, the priest, 
kneeling down before the great altar, says an act of contrition, 
and endeth with Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, &c. 
All the prayers of the rosary are in the vulgar tongue, except, 
Gloria Patri and Ora pro nobis, i, e. Glory be to thee, &c, 
and Pray for us. 

After the rosary, in some churches, there is Oratio Menta- 
lis, i. e. a prayer of meditation, and for this purpose the priest 
of the rosary, or some other of devout life and conversation, 
readeth a chapter in some devout book, as Thomas a Kempis, 
or Francis de Sales, or Father Eusebio, of the difference be- 
tween temporal and eternal things ; and when he has ended 
the chapter, every one on their knees, begin to meditate on the 
contents of the chapter, with great devotion and silence. 
They continue in that prayer half an hour or more, and after 
it, the priests say a prayer of thanksgiving to God Almighty, 
for the benefits received from him by all there present, &c. 

I said public prayers of the laity ; for when they assist at 
the divine service, or hear mass, they only hear what the 
priest says in Latin, and answer Amen. Generally speaking, 
they do not understand Latin, especially in towns of 300 hou- 
ses, and villages, there can scarcely be found one Latinist, 
except the curate, and even he very often doth not understand 
perfectly well what he reads in Latin. By this universal ig- 
norance we may say, that they do not know what they pray 
for; nay, if a priest was so wicked in heart, as to curse the 
people in church, and damn them all in Latin, the poor idiots 
must answer Amen, knowing not what the priest says. I do 
not blame the common people in this point, but I blame the 
pope and priests that forbid them to read the scripture, and 
by this prohibition they cannot know what St. Paul says about 
praying in the vulgar tongue : So the pope and priests, and 
those that plead ignorance, must answer for the people before 
the dreadful tribunal of God. 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



199 



Besides this public prayer of the rosary, they have private 
prayers at home, as the crea, the Lord's prayer, a prayer to 
the Virgin, the act of contrition, and other prayers to saints, 
angels, and for souls in purgatory. But this prayer of the 
rosary is not only said in church, but is sung in the streets ; 
and the custom was introduced by the Dominican friars, who, 
in some parts of Spain, are called The Fathers of the holy 
rosary. Sundays and holy days, after evening songs, the 
prior of the Dominicans, with all his friars and corporation, 
or fraternity of the holy rosary, begins the Virgin's evening 
songs, all the while ringing the bells, which is to call for the 
procession, and when the evening songs are over, the clerk 
of the convent, drest in his Alva or surplice, taking the stan- 
dard where the picture of the Virgin Mary is drawn with a 
frame of roses, and two novices in surplices, with candlesticks, 
walking on each side of the standard, the procession beginneth. 
First, all the brethren of the corporation go out of the church, 
each with a wax candle in his hand ; the standard followeth 
after, and all the friars, in two lines, follow the standard. In 
this order the procession goes through the streets, all singing 
Ave Maria, and the laity answering as before. They stop in 
some public street, where a friar, upon a table, preacheth a 
sermon of the excellency and power of the rosary, and gath- 
ering the people, they go back again into the church, where 
the rosary being over, another friar preacheth upon the same 
subject another sermon, exhorting the people to practise this 
devotion of the rosary; and they have carried so far this 
extravagant folly, that if a man is found dead, and has not the 
beads or rosary of the Virgin in his pocket, that man is not 
reckoned a christian, and he is not to be buried in consecrated 
ground till somebody knoweth him, and cerlifieth that such a 
man was a christian, and passeth his word for him. So every 
body takes care to have always the beads or rosary in his 
pocket, as the characteristic of a christian. But this devotion 
of the rosary is made so common among bigots, that they are 
always with the beads in their hands, and at night round about 
their necks. There is nothing more usual in Spain and Por- 
tugal, than to see people in the markets, and in the shops, pray- 
ing with their beads, and selling and buying at the same time ; 
nay, the procurers in the great Piazza are praying with their 
beads, and at the same time contriving and agreeing with a man 
for wicked intrigues. So all sorts of persons having it as a 
law to say the rosary every day : some say it walking, others 
in company, (keeping silent for a while) but the rest talking 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



or laughing : so great is their attention and devotion in this 
indispensable prayer of the holy rosary. 

But this is not the worst of their practices ; for if a man or 
priest neglects one day to say the rosary, he doth not commit 
a mortal sin, though this is a great fault among them ; but the 
divine service, or seven canonical hours, every priest, friar, 
and nun, is obliged to say every day, or else they commit a 
mortal sin, by the statutes of the church and popes. This ser- 
vice, which is to be said in private, and with christian devotion, 
is as much profaned among ecclesiastics and nuns, as the ro- 
sary among the laity; for I have seen many ecclesiastics (and 
I have done it myself several times) play at cards, and have 
the breviary on the table, to say the divine service at the 
same time. Others walking in company, and others doing 
still worse things than these, have the breviary in their hands, 
and reading the service, when they at the same time are in 
occasione proximo, peccati; and, notwithstanding they believe 
they have performed exactly that part of the ecclesiastical 
duty. • 

I know that modesty obligeth me to be more cautious in this 
account, and if it was not for this reason, I could detect the 
most horrible things of friars and nuns that ever were seen 
or heard in the world; but leaving this unpleasant subject, I 
come to say something of the profit the priests and friars get 
by their irreligious prayers, and by what means they recom- 
mend them to the laity. 

The profits priest and friars get by their prayers, are not so 
great as that they get by absolution and masses; for it is by an 
accident, if sometimes they are desired to pray for money. — 
There is a custom, that if one in a family is sick, the head of 
the family sends immediately to some devout, religious friar 
or nun, to pray for the sick, so by this custom, not all priests 
and friars are employed, but only those that are known to live 
a regular life. But because the people are very much mista- 
ken in this, I crave leave to explain the nature of those whom 
the people believe religious friars, or in Spanish, Gazmonnos. 
In every convent there are eight or ten of those Gazmonnos, or 
devout men, who, at the examination for confessors and preach- 
ers, were found quite incapable of the performance of the 
great duties, and so were not approved by the examiners of the 
convent. And though they scarcely understand Latin, they 
are permitted to say mass, that by that means the convent 
might not be at any expense with them. These poor idiots, 
being not able to get any thing by selling absolutions, nor by 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



201 



preaching, undertake the life of a Gazmonnos, and live a migh- 
ty retired life, keeping themselves in their cells, or chambers, 
and not conversing with the rest of the community : so their 
brethren Gazmonnos visit them, and among themselves, there 
is nothing spared for their diversion, and the carrying on their 
private designs. 

When they go out of the convent it must be with one of the 
same farandula, or trade. Their faces look pale; their eyes 
are fixed on the ground, their discourse all of heavenly things, 
their visits in public, and their meat and drink but very little 
before the world, though in great abundance between them- 
selves, or, as they say, Inter privates parietes. By this mor- 
tifying appearance, the people believe them to be godly men, 
and in such a case as sickness, they rather send to one of these 
to pray for the sick, than to other friars of less public fame. — 
But those hypocrites, after the apprenticeship of this trade is 
over, are very expert in it, for if any body sends for one of 
them, either without mone3 r , or some substantial present, they 
say they cannot go, for they have so many sick persons to visit 
and pray for, that it is impossible for them to spare any time. 
But if money or a present is sent to him, he is ready to go and 
pray every where. 

So these ignorant, hypocritical friars, are always followed 
by the ignorant people, who furnish them with money and 
presents, for the sake of their prayers, and they live more 
comfortable than many rich people, and have one hundred pis- 
toles in their pockets oftener than many of the laity who have 
good estates. 

Some people will be apt to blame me for giving so bad a 
character of those devout men in appearance, when I cannot 
be a judge of their hearts. But I answer, that I do not judge 
thus of all of them, but only of those that I knew to be great 
hypocrites and sinners; for I saw seven of them taken up by 
the inquisitors, and I was at their public trial, as I have 
given an account in the former chapter. So, by these seven 
we may give a near guess of the others, and say, that their 
outward mortifying appearance is only a cloak of their 
private designs. 

There are some nuns likewise, who follow the same trade 
as I have given one instance in the chapter of the inquisition; 
and though the ignorant people see every day some of these 
Gazmonnos taken up by the inquisitors, they are so blinded, 
that they always look for one of them to pray. These hypo- 
crites do persuade the heads of families, that they are obliged 



202 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



in conscience to mind their own business, rather than to pray, 
and that the providence of God has ordered every thing for 
the best for his creatures, and that he, (foreseeing that the heads 
of families would have no time to spare for prayers) has cho- 
sen such religious men to pray for them, so they are well re- 
compensed for their prayers, and God only knoweth whether 
they pray or not. Most commonly, when they are wanted, 
they are at the club, with their brethren Gazmonnos, eating 
and drinking, afterwards painting their faces with some yel- 
low drug, to make themselves look pale and mortified. O 
good God ! how great is thy patience in tolerating such wicked 
men. 

As to the means the priests and friars make use of, and the 
doctrine they preach to recommend this exercise of praying to 
the people, I can give one instance of them as matter of 
fact. Being desired to preach upon the subject of prayer, by 
the mother abbess of the nuns of St. Clara, who told me in 
private, that many of her nuns did neglect their prayers, and 
were most commonly at the grate with their devotees, and the 
good mother, out of pure zeal, told me that such nuns were 
the devils of the monastery; so to oblige her, I went to preach, 
and took my text out of the gospel of St. Mathew, chap. xvii. 
5. 21. Howbeit, this hind goeth not out but by prayer and fas- 
ting, but in our vulgar, the text is thus, Howbeit this kind of 
devils, Sfc. And after I had explained the text, confining my- 
self wholly to the learned Silveria's commentaries, I did en- 
deavor to prove, that the persons devoted to God by a public 
profession of monastical life, were bound in conscience to 
pray without ceasing, as St/Paul tells us, and that if they neg- 
lected this indispensable duty, they were worse than devils : 
and after this proposition, I did point out the way and method 
to tame such devils, which was by prayer and fasting. And 
lastly, the great obligation laid upon us by Jesus Christ and 
his apostles, to make use of this exercise of prayer, which I 
did recommend as a medium to attain the highest degree of 
glory in heaven, and to exceed even angels, prophets, 
patriarchs, apostles, and all the saints of the heavenly court. 

I do not intend to give a copy of the sermon, but I cannot 
pass by the proof I gave to confirm my proposition, to show 
by it, the trifling method of proaching most generally used 
among the Roman Catholic preachers. 

The historiographers and chronologers of St. Augustine's 
order, say, (said I) that the great father Augustine is actually 
in heaven, before the throne of the holy Trinity, as a reward 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



203 



for the unparalleled zeal and devotion he had upon earth, for 
that holy mystery, and because he spent all his free time on 
earth in praying, which makes him now in heaven greater 
than all sorts of saints. They say more, viz. that in the heav- 
en of the holy trinity, there are only the Father, the Son, the 
Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and, the last of all, 
St. Augustine. Thus father Garcia, in his Santoral, printed 
in Saragossa, in 1707, vide sermon on St. Augustine. 

To this, I knew would be objected the 11th verse of the xi. 
chap, of St. Matthew, Among them that are born of women, 
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. To which 
I did answer, that there was no rule without an exception, and 
that St. Augustine was excepted from it: and this I proved by 
a maxim received among divines, viz. Infimum supremi excedit 
supremum infimi, the least of a superior order exceeds the 
greatest of an inferior. There are three heavens, as St. Paul 
says, and, as other expositors, three orders. They place in 
the first heaven, the three divine persons, the Virgin Mary, 
St. Joseph, and St. Augustine; in the second, the spiritual in- 
telligences; and in the third, St. John Baptist, at the head of 
all the celestial army of saints. Then, if St. Augustine is the 
last in the highest heaven, though St. John is the first in the 
lowest, we must conclude, by the aforementioned maxim, that 
the great Father Augustine exceeds in glory all the saints 
of the heavenly court, as a due reward for his fervent zeal in 
praying, while he was here below among men. 

The more I remember this and the like nonsensical proofs 
and methods of preaching, the more I thank God for his good- 
ness in bringing me out of that communion into another, 
where, by application, I learn how to make use of the scrip- 
ture, to the spiritual good of souls, and not to amusements 
which are prejudicial to our salvation. 

Thus I have given you an account of the public and private 
prayers of priests, friars, nuns, and laity ; of the profits they 
have by it, and of the methods they take to recommend this 
exercise of praying, to all sorts and conditions of people. Sure 
I am, that after a mature consideration of their way of pray- 
ing, and of that we make use of in our reformed congrega- 
tions, every body may easily know the great difference be- 
tween them both, and that the form and practice of prayers 
among Protestants, are more agreeable to God, than those of 
the Romish priests and friars can be. 



204 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



ARTICLE H. 

Of the adoration of Images. 
The adoration of images was commanded by several general 
councils, and many popes, whose commands and decrees are 
obeyed as articles of our christian faith, and every one that 
breaketh them, or, in his outward practice, doth not conform 
to them, is punished by the inquisitors as an heretic — .there- 
fore, it is not to be wondered at, if people, educated in such a 
belief, without any knowledge of the sin of such idolatrous 
practices, do adore the images of the saints with the same, and 
sometimes more devotion of heart than they do God Almighty 
in Spirit. 

I begin, therefore, this article with myself, and my own for- 
getfulness of God. When I was in the college of Jesuits to 
learn grammar, the teachers were so careful in recommend- 
ing to their scholars devotion to the Virgin Mary of Pilar, of 
Saragossa, that this doctrine, by long custom, was so deeply 
impressed in our hearts, that every body, after the school was 
over, used to go to visit the blessed image, this being a rule 
and a law for us all, which was observed with so great strict- 
ness, that if any student by accident missed that exercise of 
devotion, he was the next day severely whipped for it. For 
my part, I can aver, that during the three years I went to the 
college, I never was punished for want of devotion to the Vir- 
gin. In the beginning of our exercises, we were bidden to 
write the following words, Dirige in calamum Virgo Maria, 
meum; Govern my pen, O Virgin Mary! And this was my 
constant practice in the beginning of all my scholastical and 
moral writings, for the space of ten years, in which, I do pro- 
test, before my eternal Judge, I do not remember whether I 
did invoke God, or call on his sacred name or not. This I re- 
member, that in all my distempers and sudden afflictions, my 
daily exclamation was, O Virgin del Pilar! Help me, O Vir- 
gin! &c. so great was my devotion to her, and so great my for- 
getfulness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. And indeed 
a man that does not inquire into the matter, hath more reason, 
according to the doctrine taught in those places, to trust in the 
Virgin Mary, than in Jesus Christ : for these are common ex- 
pressions in their sermons, That neither God nor Jesus Christ 
can do any thing in Heaven, but what is approved by the blessed 
Mary, that she is the door of glory, and that nobody can enter 
into it, but by her influence, &c. And the preachers give out 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



205 



these propositions as principles of our faith, insomuch, that if 
any body dares to believe the contrary, he is reputed an here- 
tic, and punished as such. 

But because this article requireth a full explanation, and 
an account to be given of the smallest circumstances belong- 
ing to it, I shall keep the class and order of Saints, and of the 
adoration they are worshipped with, by most people of the 
Roman Catholic countries. And first of all, the image of Je- 
sus Christ is adored as if the very image of wood was the ve- 
ry Christ of flesh and bones. To clear this, I will give an in- 
stance or two of what I saw myself. 

In the cathedral church of St. Salvator, there was an old 
image of Jesus Christ, crucified, behind the choir, in a small 
unminded chapel ; nobody took notice of that crucifix, except a 
devout prebend, or cannon of the church, who did use every 
day to kneel down before that image, and pray heartily to it. 
The prebend (though a religious man in the outward appear- 
ance) was ambitious in his heart of advancement in the 
church; so, one day, as he was on his knees before the old 
image, he was begging that, by its power and influence, he 
might be made a bishop, and after a cardinal, and lastly, pope ; 
to which earnest request the image made him this answer: Et 
tu que me ves a qui, que hazes pormi? i. e. And thou seest me 
here, what dost thou do for me? These very words are writ- 
ten, at this present day, in gilt letters upon the crown of thorns 
of the crucifix: To which the prebend answered, Dominepec- 
cavi,et malum coram te feci; i.e. Lord I have sinned, and 
done evil before thee. To this humble request, the image said, 
Thou shalt be a bishop; and accordingly he was made a bishop 
soon after. These words, spoken by the crucifix of the cath- 
edral church, made such a noise, that crowds of well disposed, 
credulous people used to come every day to offer their gifts to 
the miraculous image of our Saviour; and the image, which 
was not minded at all before, after it spoke, was, and has been 
ever since, so much reverenced, that the offerings of the first 
six years were reckoned worth near a million of crowns. The 
history of the miracle reports, that the thing did happen in the 
year 1562, and that the chapter did intend to build a chapel in 
one corner of the church, to put the crucifix in with more ven- 
eration and decency ; but the image spoke again to the prebend, 
and said, My pleasure is to continue where I am till the end of 
the world: So the crucifix is kept in the same chapel, but richly 
adorned, and nobody ever since dare touch any thing belong- 
ing to the image, for fear of disobliging the crucifix. It has an 



206 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



old wig on its head, the very sight of which is enough to make 
every one laugh; its face looks so black and disfigured, that 
nobody can guess whether it is the face of a man or woman, 
but every body believes that it is a crucifix, by the other cir- 
cumstances of the cross, and crown of thorns. 

The image is so much adored, and believed to have such a 
power of working miracles, that if they ever carry it out in a 
procession, it must be on an urgent necessity : For example, 
if there is a want of rain in such a degree that the harvest is 
almost lost, then, by the common consent of the archbishop 
and chapter, a day is fixed to take the crucifix out of its 
chapel in a public procession, at which all the priests and 
friars are to assist without any excuse, and the devout peo- 
ple too, with marks of repentance, and public penances. Like- 
wise the archbishop, viceroy, and magistrates, ought to assist 
in robes of mourning; so when the day comes, which is most 
commonly very cloudy, and disposed to rain, all the commu- 
nities meet together in the cathedral church : And in the year 
1706, 1 saw, upon such an occasion as this, 600 disciplinants, 
whose blood ran from their shoulders to the ground, many 
others with long heavy crosses, others with a heavy bar of 
iron, or chains of the same, hanging at their necks ; with such 
dismal objects in the middle of the procession, 12 priests drest 
in black ornaments, take the crucifix on their shoulders, and 
with great veneration carry it through the streets, the eunuchs 
singing the litany. 

I said, that this image is never carried out but when there 
is great want of rain, and when there is sure appearance of 
plenteous rain; so they never are disappointed in having a 
miracle published after such a procession : Nay, sometimes it 
begins to rain before the crucifix is out of its place, and then 
the people are almost certain of the power of the image : So 
that year the chapter is sure to receive double tithes : For ev- 
ery body vows and promises two out of ten to the church for 
the recovery of the harvest. 

But what is more than this, is, that in the last wars between 
king Philip and king Charles, as the people were divided into 
two factions, they did give out by the revelation of an ignor- 
ant, silly beata, that the crucifix was a butifiero, i. e. affection- 
ate to king Philip; and at the same time there was another 
revelation, that his mother, the Virgin of Pilar, was an impe- 
rialist, i. e. for king Charles; and the minds of the people were 
so much prejudiced with their opinions, that the partizans of 
Philip did go to the crucifix, and those of king Charles to the 







MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



207 



Virgin of Pilar. Songs were made upon this subject: one 
said, When Charles the Third mounts on his horse, the Virgin 
of Pilar holds the stirrup. The other said, When Philip comes 
to our land, the Crucifix of St Salvator guides him by his hand. 
By these two factions, both the Virgin and her son's image be- 
gan to lose the presents of one of the parties, and the chapter, 
having made bitter complaint to the inqusitors, these did put 
a stop to their sacrilegious practices. So high is the people's 
opinion of the image of the crucifix, and so blind their faith, 
that all the world would not be able to persuade them that that 
image did not speak to the canon or prebendary, and that it 
cannot work miracles at any time. Therefore our custom 
was, after school, to go first to visit the crucifix, touch its feet 
with our hands, and kiss it, and from thence go to visit the im- 
age of the Virgin of Pilar, of which I am going to speak, as 
the next image to that of Jesus Christ, though, in truth, the 
first as to the people's devotion. 

And because the story, or history of the image, is not well 
known, (at least, I never saw any foreign book treat of it,) it 
seems proper to give a full account of it here, to satisfy the 
curiosity of many that love to read and hear ; and this, I think, 
is worth every body's observation. 

The book, called The History of our Lady of Pilar, and 
her Miracles, contains, to the best of my memory, the follow- 
ing account: 

The apostle St. James came, with seven new converts, to 
preach the gospel in Saragossa, (a city famous for its antiqui- 
ty, and for its founder Caesar Augustus; but more famous for 
the heavenly image of our lady,) and as they were sleeping on 
the river Ebro's side, a celestial music awakened them at 
midnight, and they saw an army of angels, melodiously sing- 
ing, come down from heaven, with an image on a pillar, which 
they placed on the ground, forty yards distant from the river, 
and the commanding angel spoke to St. James and said, This 
image of our queen shall be the defence of this city, where 
you come to plant the Christian religion; take therefore good 
courage, for, by her help and assistance, you shall not leave 
this city without reducing all the inhabitants of it to your 
Masters religion; and as she is to protect you, you also must 
signalize yourself in building a decent chapel for her. The 
angels leaving the image on the earth, with the same melody 
and songs, went up to heaven, and St. James and his seven 
converts on their knees began to pray, and thank God for this 



208 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



inestimable treasure sent to them; and the next day they be- 
gan to build a chapel with their own hands. 

I have already given an account of the chapel, and the 
riches of it; now I ought to say something of the idolatrous 
adoration given to that image, by all the Roman catholics of 
that kingdom, and of all that go to visit her. 

The image has her own chaplain, besides the chapter of the 
prebends and other priests, as I have told before. The Virgin 
chaplain has more privilege and power than any king, arch- 
bishop, or any ecclesiastical person, excepting the pope ; for 
his business is only to dress the image every morning, which 
he doth in private, and without any help : I say in private, 
that is drawing the four curtains of the Virgin's canopy, that 
nobody may see the image naked. Nobody has liberty, but 
this chaplain, to approach so near the image, for as the author 
of the book says, An archbishop (who had so great assurance 
as to attempt to say mass on the altar table of the Virgin,) died 
upon the spot, before he began mass. I saw king Philip and 
king Charles, when they went to visit the image, stand at a 
distance from it. With these cautions it is very easy to give 
out, that nobody can know of what matter the image is made, 
that being a thing referred to the angels only ; so all the favor 
the Christians can obtain from the Virgin, is only to kiss her 
pillar, for it is contrived, that by having broke the wall back- 
wards, a piece of pillar, as big as two crown pieces is shown, 
which is set out in gold round about, and there kings, and 
other people, kneel down to adore and kiss that part of the 
stone. The stones and lime that were taken, when the wall 
was broke, are kept for relics, and it is a singular favor, 
if any can get some small stone, by paying a great sum 
of money. 

There is always so great a crowd of people, that many times 
they cannot kiss the pillar ; but touch it with one of their 
fingers, and kiss afterwards the part of the finger that touched 
the pillar. The large chapel of the lamp is always, night and 
day, crowded with people ; for, as they say, that chapel was 
never empty of Christians, since St. James built it; so the 
people of the city, that work all day, go out at night to visit 
the image, and this blind devotion is not only among pious 
people, but among the profligate and debauched too, insomuch 
that a lewd woman will not go to bed without visiting the 
image; for they certainly believe, that nobody can be saved, 
if they do not pay this tribute of devotion to the sacred image. 

And to prove this erroneous belief, the chaplain, who dresses 



ZHASTER-XEY TO FOPERY. 



209 



the image (as he is reckoned to be a heavenly man) may 
easily give out what stories he pleases, and make the people 
believe any revelation from the Virgin to him, as many of them 
are written in the book of the Virgin of Pilar, viz : Dr. Au- 
gustine Ramirez, chaplain to the image, in 1542, as he was 
dressing it, it talked with him for half a quarter of an hour, 
and said, 

My faithful and well beloved Augustine, I am very angry 
with the inhabitants of this my city for their ingratitude. Now, 
I tell you as my own chaplain, that it is my will, and I com- 
mand you to publish it, and say the following words, which 
is my speech to all the people of Saragossa : — Ungrateful peo- 
ple, remember that after my son died for the redemption of the 
world, but more especially for you the inhabitants of this my 
chosen city, I was pleased, two years after I went up to hea- 
ven, in body and soul, to pitch upon this select city for my 
dwelling place ; therefore I commanded the angels to make an 
image perfectly like my body, and another of my son Jesus, 
on my arms, and to set them both on a pillar, whose matter 
nobody can know, and when both were finished, I ordered 
them to be carried in a procession, round about the heavens, 
by the principal angels, the heavenly host following, and after 
them the Trinity, who took me in the middle; and when this 
procession was over in heaven, I sent them down with illumi- 
nations and music to awake my beloved James, who was 
asleep on the river side, commanding him by my ambassador 
Gabriel, to build with his own hands a chapel for my image, 
which he did according!}- ; and ever since I have been the 
defence of this city against the Saracen army, when by my 
mighty power, I killed in one night at the breach, 50,000 of 
them, putting the rest to a precipitate flight. After this visible 
miracle, (for many saw me in the air fighting,) I have deliv- 
ered them from the oppression of the Moors, and preserved 
the faith and religion unpolluted for many years, in this my 
city. How many times have I succored them with rain in 
time of need? How many sick have I healed? How much 
riches are they masters of, by my unshaken affection to them 
all? And what is the recompense they give me for all these 
benefits? Nothing but ingratitude. I have been ashamed 
these fjf:een years, to speak before the eternal Father, who 
made me queen of this city : many and many times I am at 
court, with the three persons, to give my consent for pardoning 
several sinners ; and when the Father asketh me about my 
city,. I am so bashful that I cannot lift up my eyes to him. He 



210 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



knoweth very well their ingratitude, and blameth me for suf- 
fering so long their covetousness : and this very morning, being 
called to the council of the Trinity for passing the divine de- 
cree, under our hands and seal for the bishoprick of Sara- 
gossa, the Holy Spirit has affronted me, saying I was not wor- 
thy to be of the private council of heaven, because I did not 
know how to govern and punish the criminals of my chosen 
city ; and I have vowed not to go again to the heavenly court, 
until I get satisfaction from my offenders. So I thunder out 
this sentence, against the inhabitants of Saragossa, that I 
have resolved to take away my image from them, and resign 
my government to Lucifer, if they do not come, for the space 
of fifteen da3*s, every day with gifts, tears and penances, to 
make due submission to my image, for the faults committed 
by them these fifteen years. And if they come with prodigal 
hands, and true hearts, to appease my wrath, which I am 
pleased with, they shall see the rainbow for a signal, that I 
receive them again into my favor. But, if not, they may be 
sure that the Prince of Darkness shall come to rule and reign 
over them; and further, I do declare, that they shall have no 
appeal, from this my sentence, to the tribunal of the Father; 
for this is my will and pleasure. 

After this revelation was published, all the inhabitants of 
the city were under such a concern, that the magistrates, by 
the Archbishop's order, published an ordinance for all sorts of 
people to fast three days every week, and not to let the cattle 
go out those days, and to make the cattle fast as well as the 
reasonable creatures ; and as for the infants, not to suckle them 
but once a day. All sorts of work were forbidden for fifteen 
days time, in which the people went to confess and make 
public penances, and offer whatever money and rich jewels 
they had, to the Virgin. 

Observe now, that the publishing of the revelation was in 
the month of May, and it is a customary thing for that country 
to see almost every day the rainbow at that time : so there was 
by all probability, certain hopes that the rainbow would not 
fail to shew its many colored faces to the inhabitants of Sar- 
agossa, as did happen the eleventh day; but it was too late for 
them, for they had bestowed all their treasures on the image 
of the Virgin. Then the rejoicings began, and the people 
were almost mad for joy, reckoning themselves the most hap- 
py, blessed people in the universe. 

By these and the like revelations, given out every day by 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



211 



the Virgin's chaplain, the people are so much infatuated, that 
they certainly believe there is no salvation for any soul with- 
out the consent of the Virgin of Pilar; so they never fail to 
visit her image every day, and to pay her due homage, for 
fear that if she is angry again, Lucifer should come to reign 
over them. And this is done by the Virgin's crafty chaplain, 
to increase her treasure and his own too. As to him, I may 
aver, that the late chaplain, Don Pedro Valenzula was but five 
years in the Virgin's service ; yearly rent is 1000 pistoles, and 
when he died, he left in his testament, 20,000 pistoles to the 
Virgin, and 10,000 to his relations; now how he got 30,000 
pistoles clear in six years, every body may imagine. 

As to the miracles wrought by this image, I could begin to 
give an account, but never make an end; and this subject re- 
quiring a whole book to itself, I will not trouble the reader 
with it, hoping in God that if he is pleased to spare my life 
some years, I shall print a book of their miracles and revela- 
tions, that the world may, by it, know the inconsistent grounds 
and reasons of the Romish communion. 

Now, coming again to the adoration of images, I cannot pass 
by one or two instances more of the image of Jesus Christ, 
adored by the Roman Catholics. 

The first is that of the crucifix in the monument, both on 
Thursday and Friday of the holy week. The Roman Catho- 
lics have a custom on holy Thursday, to put the consecrated 
host in the monument till Friday morning at eleven of the 
clock, as I have already said, treating of the estation of the 
holy Calvary. 

Now I will confine myself wholly to the adoration paid to the 
crucifix, and all the material instruments of our Saviour's pas- 
sion, by priests, friars, and magistrates. In every parish 
church and convent of friars and nuns, the priests form a mon- 
ument, which is of the breadth of the great altar's front, con- 
sisting of ten or twelve steps, that go gradually up to the Ara, 
or altar's table, on which lies a box, gilt, and adorned with jew- 
els, wherein they keep for twenty-four hours, the great host, 
which the priest that officiates, has consecrated on Thursday, 
between eleven and twelve. In this monument, you may see 
as many wax candles as parishioners belonging to that church, 
and which burn twenty-four hours continually. At the bottom 
of the monument there is a crucifix laid down on a black vel- 
vet pillow, and two silver dishes on each side. At three of the 
clock, in the afternoon, there is a sermon preached by the 
Lent preachers, whose constant text is, Mandatum novum do 



212 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



wbis, ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos. Expressing in it, 
the excessive love of our Saviour towards us. After it the pre- 
late washes the feet of twelve poor people, and all this while 
the people that go from one church to another, to visit the 
monuments, kneel down before the crucifix, kiss its feet, and 
put a piece of money into one of the dishes. The next day, in 
the morning, there is another sermon of the passion of our 
Saviour, wherein the preacher recommends the adoration of the 
cross according to the solemn ceremony of the church. That 
day, i. e. Good Friday, there is no Mass in the Romish church, 
for the host which was consecrated the day before, is received 
by the minister, or prelate, that officiates, and when the pas- 
sion is sung, then they begin the adoration of the crucifix, 
which is at the bottom of the monument, which is performed 
in the following manner: First of all, the priest that officiates, 
or the bishop, when he is present, pulling off his shoes, goes 
and kneels down three times before the crucifix, kisses its feet, 
and in the same manner comes back again to his own place. 
All the priests do the same, but without putting any thing into 
the dish, this being only a tribute to be paid by the magistrates 
and laity. This being done by all the magistrates, the priest 
bids them to come at four in the afternoon, to the descent of 
Jesus Christ, from the cross, and this is another idolatrous cer- 
emony and adoration. 

The same crucifix that was at the bottom of the monument, 
is put on the great altar's table, veiled or covered with two cur- 
tains, and when the people are gathered together in the 
church, the chapter or community comes out of the vestry, and 
kneeling down before the altar, begins in a doleful manner to 
sing the psalm, Miserere, and when they come to the verse, 
Tibi soli peccavi, Sfc, they draw the curtains, and shew the 
image of Christ crucified to the people. Then the preacher 
goes up to the pulpit, to preach of the pains and afflictions of 
the Virgin Mary, (whose image shedding tears is placed be- 
fore the image of her son.) I once preached upon this occa- 
sion in the convent of St. Augustine, in the city of Huesca, 
and my text was, Animam meam pertransitit gladivs. After 
the preacher has exaggerated the unparalleled pains of the 
Virgin Mary, seeing her son suffer death in so ignominious a 
manner, he orders Satellites (so they call those that stand 
with the nails, hammer and other instruments used in their 
crucifixion) to go up to the cross, and take the crown of thorns 
off the crucifix's head, and then he preaches on that action, 
representing to the people his sufferings as movingly as possi- 



MASTEE-KEY TO POPEEY. 



213 



ble. After the Satellites have taken the nails out of the hands 
and feet, they bring down the body of Jesus, and lay him in the 
coffin, and when the sermon is over, the procession begins, 
all in black, which is called the burying of Christ. In that 
procession, which is always in the dark of the evening, there 
are vast numbers of disciplinants that go along with it, whip- 
ping themselves, and shedding their blood, till the body of Je- 
sus is put into the sepulchre. Then every body goes to adore 
the sepulchre, and after the adoration of it, begins the proces- 
sion of the estations of the holy Calvary, of which I have spo- 
ken already in the second chapter of this book. 

I will not deprive the public of another superstitious cere- 
mony of the Romish Priests, which is very diverting, and by 
which their ignorance will be more exposed to the world; and 
this is practised on the Sunday before Easter, which is called 
Dominica Palmarum, in which the church commemorates the 
triumphant entry of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, sitting on an 
ass, the people spreading their clothes and branches of olive 
trees on the ground : so, in imitation of this triumph, they do 
the same in some churches and convents. 

The circumstance of one being representative of Jesus, on 
an ass, I never saw practised in Saragossa, and I was quite 
unacquainted with it till I went to Alvalate, a town that be- 
longs to the archbishop in temporalibus and spiritualibus, 
whither I was obliged to retire with his Grace, in his precipi- 
tate flight from King Charles's army, for fear of being taken 
prisoner of state. We were there at the Franciscan convent 
on that Sunday, and the archbishop being invited to the cere- 
mony of the religious triumph, I went with him to see it, which 
was performed in the following manner. 

All the friars being in the body of the church, the guardian 
placing his Grace at the right hand, the procession began, ev- 
ery friar having a branch of olive trees in his hand, which 
was blessed by the Rev. Father Guardian; so the cross going 
before, the procession went out of the church to a large yard 
before it : But, what did we see at the door of the church, but 
a fat friar, dressed like a Nazareen, on a clever ass, two friars 
holding the stirrups, and another pulling the ass by the bridle. 
The representative of Jesus Christ took place before the 
archbishop. The ass was an he one, though not so fat as the 
friar, but the ceremony of throwing branches and clothes be- 
fore him, being quite strange to him, he began to start and ca- 
per, and at last threw down the heavy load of the friar. — The 
ass ran away, leaving the reverend on the ground, with one 



214 MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 

arm broken. This unusual ceremony was so pleasing to us 
all, that his Grace, notwithstanding his deep melancholy, 
laughed heartily at it. The ass was brought back, and an- 
other friar, making the representative, put an end to this ass- 
like ceremony. 

But the ignorance and superstition begins now ; when the 
ceremony was over, a novice took the ass by the bridle, and 
began to walk in the cloister, and every friar made a rever- 
ence, passing by, and the people kneeling down before him, 
said, O happy ass 1 But his Grace displeased at so great a 
superstition, spoke to the guardian, and desired him not to suf- 
fer his friars to give such an example to the ignorant people, 
as to adore the ass. The guardian was a pleasant man, and 
seeing the archbishop so melancholy, only to make him laugh, 
told his Grace that it was impossible for him to obey his 
Grace, without removing ail his friars to another convent, 
and bring a new community. Why so? said his Grace. Be- 
cause (replied the guardian) all my friars are he asses. And 
you the guardian of them (answered his Grace.) Thus priests 
and friars excite the people, to adore images. 

But because this article of images, and that of relics, con- 
tribute very much to the discovery of the idolatries, and of the 
bigotries and superstitions of all those of that communion, I 
shall not leave this subject, without giving an account of some 
remarkable images which are worshipped and adored by 
them all. 

They have innumerable images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, 
the angels and saints in the streets, in small chapels built 
within the thickness of the walls, and most commonly in the 
corners of the streets, which the people adore, kneel down 
before, and make prayers and supplications to. They say, 
that many of (hcse images have spoken to some devout per- 
sons, as that of St. Philip Nery did to a certain ambitious 
priest, who, walking through the street where the image was, 
was talking within himself, and saying, Now I am a priest, 
next year I hope to be a dean, after bishop, then cardinal, and 
after ali, summus pontifex. To which soliloquy the image of 
St. Philip answered, And after all these honors comes death, 
and after death, hell and damnation forever. The priest, be- 
ing surprised at this answer, so much apropos, and looking up 
and down, he saw the mouth of the image open, by which he 
concluded that the image had given him the answer; and so, 
taking a firm resolution to leave all the thoughts of this deceit- 
ful world, with his own money he purchased the house where 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



215 



the image was, and built a decent chapel in honor of St. Philip, 
which now, by the gifts of pious people, is so much enlarged, 
that we reckon St. Philip's church and parish to be the third 
in the city for riches, the number of beneficiate priests being 
46, besides the rector. 

In St. Philip's church there is a miraculous crucifix, called 
El santo Christo de las peridas; The holy Christ of child-bed 
women; which is much frequented by all people, but chiefly 
by the ladies, who go there to be churched, and leave the pu- 
rification offering mentioned in the ceremonial law of Moses. 
And as there is this image which is an advocate of women 
delivered of child, there are also two images, who are advo- 
cates of barren women, one of the Virgin in the convent of 
Recolet friars of St. Augustine, and another of St. Antonio 
del Paula : The first is called the barren women, the second, 
the intercessor of the barren ladies. This second image is 
in the convent of Victorian friars, and is kept in a gilt box in 
a chapel within the cloister, and the door is always locked up, 
and the key kept by the father corrector, i. e. the superior of 
the convent. 

Another practice, of paying worship and adoration to the 
Virgin Mother, and her child Jesus in a manger, is observed 
on Christmas, and eight days after: But especially the nuns 
do signalize themselves on this festival, and that on which Je- 
sus was lost and found again in the temple ; for they hide the 
child in some secret place under the altar's table, and after 
evening songs they run up and down through the garden, 
cloisters and church, to see whether they can find the inno- 
cent child, and the nun that finds him out, is excused, for that 
year, from all the painful offices of the convent; but she is to 
give, for three days together, a good dinner to all the nuns 
and father confessor; and that year she may goto the grate at 
any time, without any lea.ve or fear, for she doth not assist at 
the public service of prayers : in short, she has liberty of con- 
science that year, for finding the lost child, and she is often lost 
too at the end of the year, by following a licentious sort of a 
life. 

These are, in some measure, voluntary devotions and ado- 
rations, but there are many others by precept of the church, 
and ordinances of several popes, who have granted proper 
services to several images, with which priests and friars do 
serve and adore them, or else they commit a mortal sin, as 
well as if they neglected the divine and ecclesiastical service, 
and the due observance of the ten commandments of the law 



216 



MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 



of God. I will give a few instances of these adorations by 
precept, and with them I shall conclude. 

There are in the church of Rome, proper services granted 
by the popes for the invention or finding out of the cross, and 
for the exaltation of it, and every priest, friar, and nun, is 
obliged in conscience, to say these services in honor of the 
cross ; and after the great mass they adore the cross, and this 
is properly adoration, for they say in the hymn, Let us come 
and adore the holy cross, &c, and the people do the same af- 
ter them. They carry the cross on the 3d of May, and on 
the great Litany-days, in a solemn procession, to some high 
place out of the town, and after the officiating priest has lifted 
up the cross towards the south, north, west, and east, blessing 
the four parts of the world, and singing the Litany, the pro- 
cession comes back to the church. These festivals are cele- 
brated with more devotion and veneration, as to the outward 
appearance, than pomp and magnificence, except in the 
churches dedicated to the holy cross, where this being the tit- 
ular festival, is constantly performed with all manner of cere- 
monies, as the days of the first class. 

There are proper services granted to the Virgin Mary, un- 
der the following names : The Virgin of the rose of St. Dom- 
inick, of the girdle of St. Augustine, or the rope of St. Fran- 
cis, and of the scapulary of Mount carmel. All these distin- 
guishing signs of the Virgin Mary, are celebrated by the 
church and fraternities of devout people, and adored by all 
christians, being all images and relics to be worshiped by the 
command of the pope. Now, by what has been said, where 
can we find expressions fit to explain the wickedness of the 
Romish priests, the ignorance of the people, committed to their 
charge, and the idolatrous, nonsensical, ridiculous ceremonies 
with which they serve, not God, but saints, giving them more 
tribute of adoration than to the Almighty ? I must own, that 
the poor people who are easily persuaded of every thing, are 
not so much to be blamed, but the covetous, barbarous clergy; 
for these (though many of them are very blind) are not to be 
supposed ignorant of what sins they do commit, and advise 
the people to commit: so, acting against the dictates of their 
own consciences, they, I believe, must answer for their ill- 
guided flock, before the tribunal of the living God 



THE 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 

[from dr. Buchanan's researches in asia.] 

"Goa, Convent of the Augustinians, Jan. 23, 1808. 

"On my arrival at Goa, I was received into the house of 
Captain Schuyler, the British Resident. The British force 
here is commanded by Col. Adams, of his Majesty's 78th re- 
giment, with whom I was formerly well acquainted in Bengal.* 
Next day I was introduced by these gentlemen to the Viceroy 
of Goa, the Count de Cabral. I intimated to his excellency 
my wish to sail up the river to Old Goa,f (where the Inquisi- 
tion is,) to which he politely acceded. Major Pareira, of the 
Portuguese establishment, who was present, and to whom I 
had letters of introduction from Bengal, offered to accompany 
me to the city, and to introduce me to the archbishop of Goa, 
the Primate of the Orient. 

"I had communicated to Col. Adams, and to the British Res- 
ident, my purpose of inquiring into the state of the Inquisition. 
These gentlemen informed me, that I should not be able to ac- 
complish my design without difficulty ; since every thing rela- 
ting to the Inquisition was conducted in a very secret manner, 
the most respectable of the lay Portuguese themselves being 
ignorant of its proceedings ; and that, if the priests were to dis- 
cover my object, their excessive jealousy and alarm would 
prevent their communicating with me, or satisfying my inqui- 
ries on any subject. 

* The forts in the harbor of Goa were then occupied by British troops, (two 
King's regiments, and two regiments of native infantry,) to prevent its falling 
into the hands of the French. 

t There is Old and New Goa. The old city is about eight miles up the 
river. The Viceroy and the chief Portuguese inhabitants reside at New Goa, 
which is at the mouth of the river, within the forts of the harbor. The old 
city, where the Inquisition and the Churches are, is now almost entirely de- 
serted by the secular Portuguese, and is inhabited by the priests alone. The 
unhealthiness of the place, and the ascendency of the priests, are the causes 
assigned for abandoning the ancient city. 

T 217 



218 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



"On receiving this intelligence, I perceived that it would be 
necessary to proceed with caution. I was, in fact, about to 
visit a republic of priests ; whose dominion had existed for 
nearly three centuries ; whose province it was to prosecute 
heretics, and particularly the teachers of heresy; and from 
whose authority and sentence there was no appeal in India. 

"It happened that Lieutenant Kempthorne, Commander of 
His Majesty's brig Diana, a distant connexion of my own, was 
at this time in the harbor. On his learning that I meant to 
visit Old Goa, he offered to accompany me, as did Captain 
Stirling, of His Majesty's 84th regiment, which is now sta- 
tioned at the forts. 

"We proceeded up the river in the British Resident's barge, 
accompanied by Major Pareira, who was well qualified by a 
thirty years' residence, to give information concerning local 
circumstances. From him I learned that there were upwards 
of two hundred Churches and Chapels in the province of Goa, 
and upwards of two thousand priests. 

"On our arrival at the city, it was past twelve o'clock; all 
the churches were shut, and we were told that they would not 
be opened again till two o'clock. I mentioned to Major Parei- 
ra, that I intended to stay at Old Goa some days ; and that I 
should be obliged to him to find me a place to sleep in. He 
seemed surprised at this intimation, and observed that it would 
be difficult for me to obtain a reception in any of the Churches 
or Convents, and that there were no private houses into which 
I could be admitted. I said I could sleep any where; I had 
two servants with me, and a travelling bed. When he per- 
ceived that I was serious in my purpose, he gave directions to 
a civil officer in that place, to clear out a room in a building 
which had long been uninhabited, and which was then used as 
a warehouse for goods. Matters at this time presented a very 
gloomy appearance : and I had thoughts of returning with my 
companions from this inhospitable place. In the mean time 
we sat down in the room I have just mentioned, to take some 
refreshment, while Major Pareira went to call on some of his 
friends. During this interval, I communicated to Lieut. Kemp- 
thorne the object of my visit. I had in my pocket 'Dellon's 
Account of the Inquisition at Goa ;' * and I mentioned some 

* Monsieur Dellon, a physician, was imprisoned in a dungeon of the Inqui- 
sition at Goa for two years, and witnessed an Auto da Fe, when some here- 
tics were burned ; at which time he walked barefoot. After his release he 
wrote the history of his confinement. His descriptions are in general very 
accurate. 



IISaUISITION OF GOA. 



219 



particulars. While we were conversing on the subject, the 
great bell of the Cathedral began to toll ; the same which Del- 
Ion observes, always tolls before day-light, on the morning of 
the Auto da Fe. I did not myself ask any questions of the 
people concerning the Inquisition ; but Mr. Kempthorne made 
inquiries for me : and he soon found out that the Santa Casa, 
or Holy Office was close to the house where we were then 
sitting. The gentlemen went to the window to view the hor- 
rid mansion; and I could see the indignation of free and en- 
lightened men arise in the countenances of the two British offi- 
cers, while they contemplated a place where formerly their 
own countrymen were condemned to the flames, and into 
which they themselves might now suddenly be thrown, with- 
out the possibility of rescue. 

"At two o'clock we went out to view the churches, which 
were now open for the afternoon service ; for there are regular 
daily masses ; and the bells began to assail the ear in every 
quarter. 

"The magnificence of the churches of Goa, far exceeded 
any idea I had formed from the previous description. Goa is 
properly a city of Churches ; and the wealth of provinces 
seems to have been expended in their erection. The ancient 
specimens of architecture at this place, far excel any thing 
that has been attempted in modern times, in any other part of 
the East, both in grandeur and in taste. The chapel of the 
palace is built after the plan of St. Peter's at Rome, and is 
said to be an accurate model of that paragon of architecture. 
The church of St. Dominic, the founder of the Inquisition, is 
decorated with paintings of Italian masters. St. Francis Ya- 
ver lies enshrined in a monument of exquisite art, and his 
coffin is enchased with silver and precious stones. The cathe- 
dral of Goa is worthy of one of the principal cities of Europe ; 
and the church and convent of the Augustinians (in which I 
now reside) is a noble pile of building, situated on an emi- 
nence, and has a magnificent appearance from afar. 

"But what a contrast to all this grandeur of the churches is 
the worship offered in them! I have been present at the chap- 
els every day since I arrived ; and I seldom see a single wor- 
shipper, but the ecclesiastics. Two rows of native priests, 
kneeling in order before the altar, clothed in coarse black 
garments, of sickly appearance and vacant countenances, 
perform here, from day to day, their laborious masses, 
seemingly unconscious of any other duty or obligation of 
life. 



220 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



"The day was now far spent, and my companions were 
about to leave me. While I was considering whether I should 
return with them, Major Pareira said he would first introduce 
me to a priest, high in office, and one of the most learned men 
in the place. We accordingly walked to the convent of the 
Augustinians, where I was presented to Josephus a Doloribus, 
a man well advanced in life, of pale visage, and penetrating 
eye, rather of a reverend appearance, and possessing great 
fluency of speech and urbanity of .manners. At first sight he 
presented the aspect of one of those acute and prudent men of 
the world, the learned and respectable Italian Jesuits, some of 
whom are yet found, since the demolition of their order, repo- 
sing in tranquil obscurity, in different parts of the East. After 
half an hour's conversation in the Latin language, during 
which he adverted rapidly to a variety of subjects, and inquired 
concerning some learned men of his own church, whom I had 
visited in my tour, he politely invited me to take up my resi- 
dence with him during my stay at Old Goa. I was highly 
gratified by this unexpected invitation ; but Lieutenant Kemp- 
thorne did not approve of leaving me in the hands of the In- 
quisitor : For judge our surprise, when we discovered that 
my learned host was one of the Inquisitors of the holy office, 
the second member of that august tribunal in rank, but the first 
and most active agent in the business of the department. 
Apartments were assigned to me in the college adjoining the 
convent, next to the rooms of the Inquisitor himself; and here 
I have been four days at the very fountain-head of informa- 
tion, in regard to those subjects which I wished to investigate. 
I breakfast and dine with the Inquisitor almost every day, and 
he generally passes his evenings in my apartment. As he 
considers my inquiries to be chiefly of a literary nature, he is 
perfectly candid and communicative on all subjects. 

"Next day after my arrival, I was introduced by my learned 
conductor to the Archbishop of Goa. We found him reading 
the Latin Letters of St. Francis Xavier. On my advert- 
ing to the long duration of the city of Goa, while other 
cities of Europeans in India had suffered from war or revolu- 
tion, the Archbishop observed that the preservation of Goa 
was 'owing to the prayers of St. Francis Xavier.' The In- 
quisitor looked at me to see what I thought of this sentiment. 
I acknowledged that Xavier was considered by the learned 
among the English to have been a e;reat man. What he wrote 
himself bespeaks him a man of learning, of original genius, 
and great fortitude of mind ; but what others have written for 



INQUISITION OF GOA. 



221 



him and of him, has tarnished his fame, by making him the 
inventor of fables. The Archbishop signified his assent. He 
afterwards conducted me into his private chapel, which is de- 
corated with images of silver, and then into the Archiepis- 
copal Library, which possesses a valuable collection of books. 
As I passed through our convent, in returning from the Arch- 
bishop's, I observed among the paintings in the cloisters a 
portrait of the famous Alexis de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, 
who held the Synod of Diamper near Cochin in 1599, and 
burned the books of the Syrian Christians. From the in- 
scription underneath, I learned that he was the founder 
of the magnificent church and convent in which I am now 
residing." 

" On the same day I received an invitation to dine with the 
chief Inquisitor, at his house in the country. The second 
Inquisitor accompanied me, and we found a respectable com- 
pany of priests, and a sumptuous entertainment. In the libra- 
ry of the chief Inquisitor, I saw a register containing the 
present establishment of the Inquisition at Goa, and the 
names of all the officers. On my asking the chief Inquisitor 
whether the establishment was as extensive as formerly, he 
said it was nearly the same. I had hitherto said little to any 
person concerning the Inquisition, but I had indirectly gleaned 
much information concerning it, not only from the Inquisitors 
themselves, but from certain priests, whom I visited at their 
respective convents ; particularly from a Father in the Fran- 
ciscan Convent, who had himself repeatedly witnessed an 
Auto da Fe." 

,£ Goa, Augustinian Convent, 26th Jan. 1808. 
" On Sunday, after Divine Service, which I attended, we 
looked over together the prayers and portions of Scripture for 
the day, which led to a discussion concerning some of the 
doctrines of Christianity. We then read the third chapter of 
St. John's Gospel, in the Latin Vulgate. I asked the Inquisi- 
tor whether he believed in the influence of the Spirit there 
spoken of. He distinctly admitted it; conjointly however he 
thought in some obscure sense with water. I observed that 
water was merely an emblem of the purifying effects of the 
Spirit, and could be but an emblem. We next adverted to 
the expression of St. John in his first epistle, ' This is he that 
came by water and blood: even Jesus Christ; not by water 
only, but by water and blood — blood to atone for sin, and 
water to purify the heart; justification and sanctification, 

t 2 



222 



INQUISITION OF GOA. 



both of which were expressed at the same moment on the 
cross. The inquisitor was pleased with the subject. I refer- 
red to the evangelical doctrines of Augustin (we were now in 
the Augustinian convent) plainly asserted by that father in a 
thousand places, and he acknowledged their truth. I then 
asked him in what important doctrine he differed from the 
protestant church? He confessed that he never had had a theo- 
logical discussion with a protestant before. By an easy tran- 
sition we passed to the importance of the Bible itself, to 
illuminate the priests and people. I noticed to him, that after 
looking through the colleges and schools, there appeared to 
me to be a total eclipse of Scriptural light. He acknowl- 
edged that religion and learning were truly in a degraded 
state. I had visited the theological schools, and at every 
place I expressed my surprise to the tutors, in presence of 
the pupils, at the absence of the Bible and almost total want 
of reference to it. They pleaded the custom of the place, 
and the scarcity of copies of the book itself. Some of the 
younger priests came to me afterwards, desiring to know 
by what means they might procure copies. This inquiry for 
Bibles was like a ray of hope beaming on the walls of the 
Inquisition. 

" I pass an hour sometimes in the spacious library of the 
Augustinian convent. There are many rare volumes, but 
they are chiefly theological, and almost all of the sixteenth 
century. There are few classics; and I have not yet seen 
one copy of the original Scriptures in Hebrew or Greek." 

Goa, Augustinian Convent, 27th, Jan. 1808. 

" On the second morning after my arrival, I was surprised 
by my host, the Inquisitor, coming into my apartment clothed 
in black robes from head to foot; for the usual dress of his 
order is white. He said he was going to sit on the tribunal 
of the Holy Office. * I presume, Father, your august office 
does not occupy much of your time.' 6 Yes,' answered he, 
'much. I sit on the tribunal three or four days every week.' 

" I had thought, for some days, of putting Dellon's book 
into the Inquisitor's hands ; for if I could get him to advert 
to the facts stated in that book, I should be able to learn, by 
comparison, the exact state of the Inquisition at the present 
time. In the evening he came in, as usual, to pass an hour 
in my apartment. After some conversation, I took the pen 
in my hand to write a few notes in, my journal; and, as if to 
amuse him, while I was writing, I took up Dellon's book, 



INQUISITION OF GOA. 



223 



which was lying with some others on the table, and handing 
it across to him, asked him whether he had ever seen it. It 
was in the French language, which he understood well. — 
'Relation de PInquisition de Goa,' pronounced he, with a 
slow articulate voice. He had never seen it before, and began 
to read with eagerness. He had not proceeded far, before he 
betrayed evident symptoms of uneasiness. He turned hastily 
to the middle of the book, and then to the end, and then ran 
over the table of contents at the beginning, as if to ascertain 
the full extent of the evil. He then composed himself to read, 
while I continued to write. He turned over the pages with ra- 
pidity, and when he came to a certain place, he exclaimed in 
the broad Italian accent £ Mendacium, Mendacium.' I re- 
quested he would mark those passages which were untrue, 
and we should discuss them afterwards, for that I had other 
books on the subject, 'Other books,' said he, and he looked 
with an enquiring eye on those on the table. He continued 
reading till it was time to retire to rest, and then begged to 
take the book with him. 

It was on this night that a circumstance happened which 
caused my first alarm at Goa. My servants slept every night 
at my chamber door, in the long gallery which is common to 
all the apartments, and not far distant from the servants of 
the convent. About midnight I was awaked b)^ loud shrieks 
and expressions of terror, from some person in the gallery. 
In the first moment of surprise, I concluded it must be the 
Alguazils of the holy office, seizing my servants to carry them 
to the Inquisition. But, on going out, I saw my own servants 
standing at the door, and the person who had caused the 
alarm (a boy of about fourteen) at a little distance, surround- 
ed by some of the priests, who had come out of their cells on 
hearing the noise. The boy said he had seen a spectre, 
and it was a considerable time before the agitation of his 
body and voice subsided. Next morning at breakfast the In- 
quisitor apologized for the disturbance, and said the boy's 
alarm proceeded from a phantasma animi,' a phantasm of the 
imagination. 

"After breakfast we resumed the subject of the Inquisition. 
The Inquisitor admitted that Dellon's descriptions of the dun- 
geons, of the torture, of the mode of trial, and of the Auto 
da Fe, were, in general, just; but he said the writer judged 
untruly of the motives of the Inquisitors, and very uncharita- 
bly of the character of the Holy Church ; and I admitted that, 
under the pressure of his peculiar suffering, this might possi- 



224 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



bly be the case. The Inquisitor was now anxious to know to 
what extent Dellon's book had been circulated in Europe. I 
told him that Picart \ad published to the world extracts from 
it, in his celebrated work called ' Religious Ceremonies f to- 
gether with plates of the system of torture and burnings at 
the Auto da Fe. I added that it was now generally believed 
in Europe, that these enormities no longer existed, and that 
the Inquisition itself had been totally suppressed : but that I 
was concerned to find that this was not the case. He now 
began a grave narration to show that the inquisition had un- 
dergone a change in some respects, and that its terrors were 
mitigated."* 

*The following were the passages in Mr. Dellon's narrative, to which I 
wished particularly to draw the attention of the Inquisitor. Mr. D had been 
thrown into the Inquisition at Goa, and confined in a dungeon, ten feet square, 
where he remained upwards of two years, without seeing any person, but the 
gaoler who brought him his victuals, except when he was brought to his trial, 
expecting daily to be brought to the stake. His alleged crime was, charging 
the Inquisition with cruelty, in a conversation he had with a Priest at Daman, 
another part of India. 

u During the months of November and December, I heard every morning, 
the shrieks of the unfortunate victims, who were undergoing the Question. I 
remembered to have heard, before I was cast into prison, that the Auto da Fe 
was generally celebrated on the first Sunday in Advent, because on that day 
is read in the Churches that part of the Gospel hi which mention is made of 
the last judgment; and the Inquisitors pretend by this ceremony to exhibit 
a living emblem of that awful event. I was likewise convinced that there 
were a great number of prisoners, besides myself ; tire profound silence, which 
reigned within the walls of the building, having enabled me to count the num- 
ber of doors which were opened at the hours of meals. However, the first 
and second Sundays of Advent passed by without my hearing of any thing, 
and I prepared to undergo another year of melancholy captivity, when I was 
aroused from my despair on the 11th of January, by the noise of the guards 
removing the bars from the doors of my prison. The Alcaide presented me 
with a habit, which he ordered me to put on, and make myself ready to at- 
tend him when he should come again. Thus saying, he left a lighted lamp 
in my dungeon. The guards returned, .about two o'clock in the morning, and 
led me out into a long gallery, where I found a number of the companions of 
my fate, drawn up in a rank against a wall : I placed myself among the rest, 
and several more soon joined the melancholy band. The profound silence 
and stillness caused them to resemble statues more than the animated bodies of 
human creatures. The women, who were clothed in a similar manner, were 
placed in a neighboring gallery, where we could not see them ; but I remarked 
that a number of persons stood by themselves at some distance, attended by 
others who wore long black dresses, and who walked backwards and forwards 
occasionally. I did not then know who these were : but I was aftewards in- 
formed that the former were the victims who were condemned to be burnt, 
and the others were their confessors. 

" After we were all ranged against the wall of this gallery, we received each 
a large wax taper. They then brought us a number of dresses made of yel- 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



225 



u I had already discovered, from written or printed docu- 
ments, that the Inquisition at Goa was suppressed by Royal 
Edict in the year 1775, and established again in 1779. The 
Franciscan Father before mentioned, witnessed the annual 
Auto da Fe, from 1770 to 1775. 4 It was the humanity and 
tender mercy of a good King,'' said the old Father, ' which 
abolished the Inquisition,' But immediately on his death, the 
power of the priests acquired the ascendant, under the Queen 
Dowager, and the tribunal was re-established, after a bloodless 
interval of five years. It has continued in operation ever since. 
It was restored in 1779, subject to certain restrictions, the chief 
of which are the two following : ' That a greater number of 

low cloth, with the cross of St. Andrew painted before and behind. This is 
called the San Benito. The relapsed heretics wear another species of robe, 
called the Samarra, the ground of which is grey. The portrait of the suffer- 
er is painted upon it, placed upon burning torches with flames and demons 
all round. Caps were then produced, called Carrochas; made of pasteboard, 
pointed like sugar-loaves, all covered over with devils and flames of fire. 

"The great bell of the Cathedral began to ring a little before sunrise, which 
served as a signal to warn the people of God to come and behold the august 
ceremony of the Auto da Fe ; and then they made us proceed from the gal- 
lery one by one. I remarked as we passed into the great hall, that the In- 
quisitor was sitting at the door with his secretary by him, and that he deliver- 
ed every prisoner into the hands of a particular person, who is to be his guard 
to the place of burning. These persons are called Parrains, or Godfathers. 
My Godfather was the commander of a ship. I went forthwith him, and as 
soon as we were in the street, T saw that the procession was commenced by 
the Dominican Friars, who have this honor, because St. Dominic founded the 
Inquisition. These are followed by the prisoners, who walk one after the oth- 
er, each having his Godfather by his side, and a lighted taper in his hand. 
The least guilty go foremost; and as I did not pass for one of them, there 
were many who took precedence of me. The women were mixed promiscu- 
ously with the men. We all walked barefoot, and the sharp stones of the 
streets of Goa wounded my tender feet, and caused the blood to stream ; for 
they made us march through the chief streets of the city; and we were regar- 
ded every where by an innumerable crowd of people, who had assembled from 
all parts of India to behold this spectacle ; for the Inquisition takes pains to 
announce it long before, in the most remote parishes. At length we arrived 
at the church of St. Francis, which was, for this time, destined for the cele- 
bration of ihe Act of Faith. On one side of the Altar, was the Grand In- 
quisitor and his Counsellors, and on the other the Viceroy of Goa and his 
Court. All the prisoners are seated to hear a sermon. I observed that those 
prisoners who wore the horrible Carrochas came in last in the procession. 
One of the Augustan Monks ascended the pulpit, and preached for a quarter 
of an hour. The sermon being concluded, two readers went up to the pulpit, 
one after the other, and read the sentences of the prisoners. My joy was ex- 
treme, when I heard that my sentence was not to be burnt, but to be a galley 
slave for five years. After the sentences were read, they summoned forth 
those miserable victims who were destined to be immolated by the Holy In- 
quisition. The images of the heretics who had died in prison were brought 



226 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



witnesses should be required to convict a criminal than were 
before necessary $ and, ' That the Auto da Fe should not be 
held publicly as before ; but that the sentences of the Tribunal 
should be executed privately, within the walls of the Inqui- 
sition.' 

" In this particular, the constitution of the new Inquisition 
is more reprehensible than that of the old one ; for, as the old 
Father expressed it, 1 Nunc sigillum non revelat Inquisition 
Formerly the friends of those unfortunate persons who were 
thrown into its prison, had the melancholy satisfaction of see- 
ing them once a year walking in the procession of the Auto 
da Fe ; or, if they were condemned to die, they witnessed 
their death, and mourned for the dead. But now they have 
no means of learning for years whether they be dead or alive. 
The policy of this new code of concealment appears to be this, 
to preserve the power of the Inquisition, and at the same time 
to lessen the public odium of its proceedings, in the presence 
of British dominion and civilization. I asked the Father 
his opinion concerning the nature and frequency of the pun- 
ishment within the walls. He said he possessed no certain 
means of giving a satisfactory answer; that every thing tran- 
sacted there was declared to be i sacrum et secretum.' But 
this he knew to be true, that there were constantly captives in 
the dungeons ; that some of them are liberated after long con- 
finement, but that they never speak afterwards of what pass- 
ed within the place. He added that, of all the persons he had 
known, who had been liberated, he never knew one who did 
not carry about with him what might be called, 'the mark of 
the Inquisition ;' that is to say, who did not show, in the solem- 
nity of his countenance, or in his peculiar demeanor, or his 
terror of the priests, that he had been in that dreadful place. 

up at the same time, their bones being contained in small chests, covered with 
flames and demons. An officer of the secular tribunal now came forward, 
and seized these unhappy people, after they had each received a slight blow upon 
the breast, from the Alcaide, to intimate that they were abandoned. They 
were then led away to the bank of the river, where the Viceroy and his Court 
were assembled, and where the faggots had been prepared the preceding day. 
As soon as they arrive at this place, the condemned persons are asked in what 
religion they choose to die ; and the moment they have replied to this question, 
the executioner seizes them, and binds them to a stake in the midst of the 
faggots. The day after the execution, the portraits of the dead are carried to 
the Church of Dominicans. The heads only are represented (which are gen- 
rally very accurately drawn ; for the Inquisition keeps 'excellent limners for 
the purpose,) surrounded by flames and demons; and underneath is the name 
and crime of the person who had been burned." — Relation de V Inquisition 
de Goa. chap. xxiv. 



IXQUISITION OF GO A. 



227 



" The chief argument of the Inquisitor, to prove the melio- 
ration of the Inquisition, was the superior humanity of the In- 
quisitors. I remarked that I did not doubt the humanity of 
the existing officers ; but what availed humanity in an Inquis- 
itor? he must pronounce sentence according to the laws of the 
Tribunal, which are notorious enough ; and a relapsed Heretic 
must be burned in the flames, or confined for life in a dungeon, 
whether the Inquisitor be humane or not. But if, said I, you 
would satisfy my mind completely on this subject, 'show me 
the Inquisition.' He said it was not permitted to any person 
to see the Inquisition. I observed that mine might be consid- 
ered a peculiar case ; that the character of the Inquisition, and 
the expediency of its long continuance, had been called in 
question; that I myself had written on the civilization of India, 
and might possibly publish something more on the subject, 
and that it could not be expected that I should pass over the 
Inquisition without notice, knowing what I did of its proceed- 
ings; at the same time I should not wish to state a single fact 
without his authority, or at least his admission of its truth. I 
added, that he himself had been pleased to communicate with 
me very fully on the subject, and that in all our discussions 
we had both been actuated, I hoped, by a good purpose. The 
countenance of the Inquisitor evidently altered on receiving 
this intimation, nor did it ever after wholly regain its wonted 
frankness and placidity. After some hesitation, however, he 
said, he would take me with him to the Inquisition the next 
day. I was a good deal surprised at this acquiescence of the 
Inquisitor, but I did not know what was in his mind. 

"Next morning, after breakfast, my host went to dress for 
the Holy Office, and soon returned in his inquisitorial robes. 
He said he would go half an hour before the usual time, for 
the purpose of showing me the Inquisition. The buildings are 
about a quarter of a mile distant from the convent, and we 
proceeded thither in our Manjeels* On our arrival at the 
place, the inquisitor said to me, as we were ascending the 
steps of the outer stair, that he hoped I should be satisfied 
with a transient view of the inquisition, and that I would re- 
tire whenever he should desire it. I took this as a good omen, 
and followed my conductor with tolerable confidence. 

* The Manjeel is a kind of Palankeen common at Goa. It is merely a sea- 
cot suspended from a bamboo, which is borne on the heads of four men. 
Sometimes a footman runs before, having a staff in his hand, to which are at- 
tached little bells or rings, which he jingles as he runs, keeping time with the 
motion of the bearers. 



228 



INQUISITION OF GOA. 



" He led me first to the great hall of the Inquisition. We 
were met at the door by a number of well-dressed persons, 
who, I afterwards understood, were the familiars, and attend- 
ants of the Holy Office : They bowed very low to the inquisi- 
tor, and looked with surprise at me. The great hall is the 
place in which the prisoners are marshalled for the procession 
of the Auto da Fe. At the procession described by Dellon, in 
which he himself walked barefoot, clothed with the painted 
garment, there were upwards of one hundred and fifty prison- 
ers. I traversed this hall for sometime, with a slow step, re- 
flecting on its former scenes ,- the inquisitor walked by my 
side, in silence. I thought of the fate of the multitude of my 
fellow-creatures who had passed through this place, condemned 
by a tribunal of their fellow-sinners, their bodies devoted to 
the flames, and their souls to perdition. And I could not help 
saying to him, 4 Would not the holy church wish, in her mer- 
cy, to have those souls back again, that she might allow them 
a little further probation V The inquisitor answered nothing, 
but beckoned me to go with him to a door at one end of the 
hall. By this door he conducted me to some small rooms, and 
thence to the spacious apartments of the chief inquisitor. Hav- 
ing surveyed these, he brought me back again to the great 
hall; and I thought he seemed now desirous that I should de- 
part. c Now, Father,' said I, i lead me to the dungeons below, 
I want to see the captives.' 4 No,' said he, 'that cannot be."' 
I now began to suspect that it had been in the mind of the in- 
quisitor, from the beginning, to show me only a certain part 
of the inquisition, in the hope of satisfying my inquiries in a 
general way. I urged him with earnestness, but he steadily 
resisted, and seemed to be offended, or rather agitated, by my 
importunity. I intimated to him plainly, that the only way to 
do justice to his own assertions and arguments, regarding the 
present state of the Inquisition, was to shew me the prisons 
and captives. I should then describe only what I saw; but 
now the subject was left in awful obscurity. ( Lead me down,' 
said I, * to the inner building, and let me pass through the two 
hundred dungeons, ten feet square, described by your former 
captives. Let me count the number of your present captives, 
and converse with them. I want to see if there are any sub- 
jects of the British government, to whom we owe protection. 
I want to ask how long they have been here, how long it is 
since they beheld the light of the sun, and whether they ever 
expect to see it again. Show me the chamber of Torture ; and 
•declare what modes of execution or of punishment, are now 



INQUISITION OF GO A. 



229 



practised within the walls of the Inquisition, in lieu of the 
public Auto da Fe. If, after all that has passed, Father, you 
resist this reasonable request, I shall be justified in believing 
that you are afraid of exposing the real state of the Inquisi- 
tion in India.'' To these observations the inquisitor made no 
reply; but seemed impatient that I should withdraw. 'My 
good Father,' said I, 'I am about to take my leave of you, and 
thank you for your hospitable attentions, (it had been before 
understood that I should take my final leave at the door of the 
Inquisition, after having seen the interior,) and I wish always 
to preserve on my mind a favorable sentiment of your kind- 
ness and candor. You cannot, you say, show me the captives 
and the dungeons ; be pleased then merely to answer this 
question, for I shall believe your word: How many prisoners 
are there now below, in the cells of the Inquisition ?" The 
inquisitor replied, 'That is a question which I cannot answer.' 
On his pronouncing these words, I retired hastily towards the 
door, and wished him farewell.' We shook hands with as 
much cordiality as we could at the moment assume ; and both 
of us, I believe, were sorry that our parting took place with a 
clouded countenance. 

"From the Inquisition I went to the place of burning in the 
Campo Santo Lazaro, on the river side, where the victims 
were brought to the stake at the Auto da Fe. It is close to the 
palace, that the Viceroy and his court may witness the execu- 
tion ; for it has ever been the policy of the inquisition to make 
these spiritual executions appear to be the executions of the 
state. An old priest accompanied me, who pointed out the 
place, and described the scene. As I passed over this melan- 
choly plain, I thought of the difference between the pure and 
benign doctrine, which was first preached to India in the Apos- 
tolic age, and that bloody code, which after a long night of 
darkness, was announced to it under the same name ! And I 
pondered on the mysterious dispensation, which permitted the 
ministers of the inquisition, with their racks and flames, to 
visit these lands, before the heralds of the Gospel of Peace. 
But the most painful reflection was, that this tribunal should 
yet exist, unawed by the vicinity of British humanity and do- 
minion. I was not satisfied with what I had seen or said at 
the Inquisition, and I determined to go back again. The in- 
quisitors were now sitting on the tribunal, and I had some ex- 
cuse for returning; for I was to receive from the chief inquisi- 
tor a letter which he said he would give me, before I left the 
U 



230 



INQUISITION OF GOA. 



place, for the British Resident in Travancore, being an answer 
to a letter from that officer. 

"When I arrived at the Inquisition, and had ascended the 
outer stairs, the door-keepers surveyed me doubtingly, but 
suffered me to pass, supposing that I had returned by permis- 
sion and appointment of the inquisitor. I entered the great 
hall, and went up directly towards the tribunal of the Inquisi- 
tion, described by Dellon, in which is the lofty crucifix. I sat 
down on a form and wrote some notes; and then desired one 
of the attendants to carry in my name to the inquisitor. As I 
walked up the hall, I saw a poor woman sitting by herself, on 
a bench by the wall, apparently in a disconsolate state of 
mind. She clasped her hands as I passed, and gave me a look 
expressive of her distress. This sight chilled my spirits. The 
familiars told me she was waiting there to be called up before 
the tribunal of the Inquisition. While I was asking questions 
concerning her crime, the second inquisitor came out in evi- 
dent trepidation, and was about to complain of the intrusion, 
when I informed him that I had come back for the letter from 
the chief inquisitor. He said it should be sent after me to 
Goa j and he conducted me with a quick step towards the door. 
As we passed the poor woman, I pointed to her, and said, with 
some emphasis, 'Behold, Father, another victim of the holy 
Inquisition V He answered nothing. When we arrived at the 
head of the great stair, he bowed, and I took my last leave 
of Josephus a Doloribus, without uttering a word. 



Note. — The Inquisition of Goa was abolished in the month 
of October, 1812. 



THE 



INQUISITION AT MACERATA, 

IN ITALY. 

Narrative of Mr. Bower, who gives an account of this Court of 
Inquisition, and of secrets hitherto unknown, relative to their 
proceedings against heretics. 

[Meth. Mag. 3d Vol.] 

" I never (says Mr. Bower,) pretended that it was for the 
sake of religion alone, that I left Italy ; but on the contrary, 
have often declared, as all my friends can attest, that, had I 
never belonged to the Inquisition, I should have gone on, as 
most Roman Catholics do, without ever questioning the truth 
of the religion I was brought up in, or thinking of any other. 
But the unheard of cruelties of that hellish tribunal shocked 
me beyond all expression, and rendered me, as I was obliged, 
by my office of Counsellor, to be accessary to them, one of 
the most unhappy men upon earth. I therefore began to think 
of resigning my office ; but as I had on several occasions, be- 
trayed some weakness, as they termed it, that is, some com- 
passion and humanity, and had upon that account been repri- 
manded by the Inquisitor, I was well apprized, that my resig- 
nation would be ascribed by him to my disapproving the pro- 
ceedings of the holy tribunal. And indeed, to nothing else 
could he have ascribed it, as a place at that board was a sure 
way to preferment, and attended with great privileges, and a 
considerable salary. Being, therefore, sensible how danger- 
ous a thing it would be to give the least ground to any suspi- 
cion of that nature, and no longer able to bear the sight of the 
many barbarities practised almost daily within those walls, 
nor the reproaches of my conscience in being accessary to 
them, I determined, after many restless nights, and much de- 
liberation with myself, to withdraw at the same time from the 
Inquisitor, and from Italy. In this mind, and in the most un- 
happy and tormenting situation that can possibly be imagined, 
I continued near a twelvemonth, not able to prevail upon my 
self to execute the resolution I had taken, on account of the 

231 



232 



bower's narrative of the 



many dangers which I foresaw would inevitably attend it, and 
the dreadful consequences of my failing in the attempt. But, 
being in the mean time, ordered by the Inquisitor to ap- 
prehend a person, with whom I lived in the greatest intimacy 
and friendship, the part I was obliged to act on that occasion, 
left so deep an impression in my mind as soon prevailed over 
all my fears, and made me determine to put into execution, at 
all events, and without further delay, the design I had formed. 
Of that remarkable transaction, therefore, I shall give here 
a particular account, the rather as it will shew in a very strong 
light, the nature of the proceedings in that horrid court. 

The person whom the inquisitor appointed me to apprehend, 
was Count Vicenzo della Torre, descended from an illustrious 
family in Germany, and possessed of a very considerable es- 
tate in the territory of Macerata. He was one of my very 
particular friends, and had lately married the daughter of Sig- 
nior Constantini, of Fermo, a lady no less famous for her 
good sense than her beauty. With her family too, I had con- 
tracted an intimate acquaintance, while Professor of Rhetoric 
in Fermo, and had often attended the Count during his court- 
ship, from Macerata to Fermo, but fifteen miles distant. I 
therefore lived with both in the greatest friendship and inti- 
macy ; and the count was the only person that lived with me, 
after I was made Counsellor of the Inquisition, upon the same 
free footing as he had done till that time : my other friends 
being grown shy of me, and giving me plainly to understand, 
that they no longer cared for my company. 

As this unhappy young gentleman was one day walking 
with another, he met two Capuchin friars; and turning to his- 
companion, when they were passed, 4 What fools,' said he, 
i are these, to think they shall gain heaven by wearing sack- 
cloth and going bare-foot! Fools indeed, if they think so, or 
that there is any merit in tormenting one's self: they might as 
well live as we do, and they would get to heaven quite as 
soon.' Who informed against him, whether the friars, his 
companion, or somebody else, I knew not; for the Inquisitors 
never tell the names of the informers to the Counsellors, nor 
the names of the witnesses, lest they should except against 
them. It is to be observed, that all who hear any proposition, 
that appears to them repugnant to, or inconsistent with the 
doctrine of the holy mother church, is bound to reveal it to the 
Inquisitor, and likewise to discover the person by whom it was 
uttered; and, in this affair, no regard is to be had to any ties, 
however sacred j the brother being bound to accuse the broth- 



INQUISITION AT MAC EK AT A. 



233 



er, the father to accuse the son, the son the father, the wife 
her husband, and the husband his wife ; and all bound on pain 
of eternal damnation, and of being deemed and treated as ac- 
complices, if they do not denounce in a certain time; and no 
confessor can absolve a person who has heard any thing said, 
in jest or in earnest, against the belief or practice of the church, 
till that person has informed the Inquisitor of it, and given 
him all the intelligence he can concerning the person by whom 
it was said. 

Whoever it was that informed against my unhappy friend, 
whether the friars, his companion, or somebody else who 
might have overheard him, the Inquisitor acquainted the board 
one night (for to be less observed, they commonly meet, out of 
Rome, in the night) that the abovementioned propositions had 
been advanced, and advanced gravely, at the sight of two poor 
Capuchins : that the evidence v/as unexceptionable ; and that 
they were therefore met to determine the quality of the propo- 
sition, and proceed against the delinquent agreeably to that 
determination. There are in each Inquisition twelve counsel- 
lors, viz. four Divines, four Canonists, and four Civilians. It 
is chiefly the province of the divines to determine the quality 
of the proposition, viz. Whether it is heretical, or only savors 
of heresy; whether it is blasphemous and injurious to God 
and his saints, or only erroneous, rash, schismatical, or offen- 
sive to pious ears. 

That part of the proposition, i Fools, if they think that there 
is any merit in tormenting one's self,' was judged and declared 
heretical, as openly contradicting the doctrine and practice of 
holy mother church, recommending austerities as highly mer- 
itorious. The Inquisitor observed, on this occasion, that by the 
proposition, ( Fools, indeed,' &c. were taxing with folly not 
only the holy fathers, who had all to a man practised great 
austerities, but St. Paul himself, who ' chastised his body, 5 that 
is, whipped himself, as the Inquisitor understood it; adding, 
that the practice of whipping one's self, so much recommended 
by all the founders of religious orders, was borrowed of the 
great apostle of the gentiles. 

The proposition being declared heretical, it was unanimous- 
ly agreed by the board, that the person who had uttered it 
should be apprehended and proceeded against agreeably to the 
laws of the Inquisition. And now the person was named; for, 
till it is determined whether the accused person should or 
should not be apprehended, his name is kept concealed from 
the counsellors, lest they should be biased, says the Directory, 

u2 



234 



bower's narrative of the 



in his favor, or against him. For, in many instances, they 
keep up to an appearance of justice and equity, at the same 
time that, in truth, they act in direct opposition to all the known 
laws of justice and equity. No words can express the concern 
and astonishment it gave me to hear, on such an occasion, the 
name of a friend for whom I had the greatest esteem and re- 
gard. The Inquisitor was apprized of it; and, to give me an 
opportunity of practising what he had so often recommended 
to me, viz. of conquering nature with the assistance of grace, 
he appointed me to apprehend the criminal, as he styled him, 
and to lodge him safe, before day-light, in the prison of the ho- 
ly Inquisition. I offered to excuse myself, but with the great- 
est submission, from being any ways concerned in the execu- 
tion of that order ; an order, I said, which I entirely approved 
of, and only wished it might be put in execution by some 
other person.; for your lordship knows, I said, the connexion. 
But the Inquisitor shocked at the word, 'What?' said he, with 
a stern look and angry tone of voice, 1 talk of connexions where 
the faith is concerned ? there is your guard, (pointing to the 
Sbirri or baliffs, in waiting,) let the criminal be secured in St. 
Luke's cell (one of the worst) before three in the morning.' — 
He then withdrew with the rest of the counsellors, and as he 
passed me, ( Thus,' he said, £ nature is conquered.' I had be- 
trayed some weakness, or sense of humanity, not long before, 
in fainting away while I attended the torture of one who was 
racked with the utmost barbarity ; and I had, on that occasion, 
been reprimanded by the Inquisitor for suffering nature to get 
the better of grace ; it being an inexcusable weakness, as he 
observed, to be any way affected with the suffering of the 
body, however great, when afflicted, as they ever are in the Holy 
Inquisition, for the good of the soul. And it was, I presume, 
to make trial of the effect this reprimand had upon me, that 
the execution of this cruel order was committed to me. As I 
could by no possible means decline it, I summoned all my res- 
olution, after passing an hour by myself, I may say in the ag- 
onies of death, and set out a little after two in the morning, for 
my unhappy friend's house, attended by a notary of the Inqui- 
sition, and six armed Sbirri. 

We arrived at the house by different ways, and knocking at 
the door, a maid-servant looked out of the window, and inqui- 
ring who knocked, was answered the Holy Inquisition, and at 
the same time, ordered to awake nobody, but to come down 
directly and open the door, on pain of excommunication. At 
these words, the servant hastened down, half naked as she 



INQUISITION AT MAC ER AT A. 235 

was, and having with much ado, in her great fright, at last 
opened the door, she conducted us, as she was ordered, pale 
and trembling, to her master's bed-chamber. She often looked 
very earnestly at me, as she knew me, and shewed a great 
desire of speaking to me ; but of her I durst take no kind of 
notice. I entered the bed-chamber with the notary, followed 
by the Sbirri, when the lady awakening at the noise, and see- 
ing the bed surrounded by armed men, screamed out aloud, 
and continued screaming, as out of her senses, till one of the 
Sbirri, provoked at the noise, gave her a blow on the forehead, I 
that made the blood run down her face, and she swooned away, 
I rebuked the fellow very severely, and ordered him to be< 
whipped as soon as I returned to the Inquisition. 

In the meantime the husband awakening, and seeing me 
with my attendants, cried out in the utmost surprise, 'Mr. 
Bower !' He said then no more ; nor could I for some time, 
utter a single word; and it was with much ado that, in the end, 
I mastered my grief so far as to be able to let my unfortunate 
friend know that he was a prisoner of the Holy Inquisition. 
'Of the Holy Inquisition !' he replied, 'alas ! what have I done ? 
My dear friend, be my friend now.' He said many affecting 
things ; but as I knew it was not in my power to befriend him, 
I had not the courage to look him in the face, but turning my 
back to him, withdrew, while he dressed, to a corner of the 
room, to give vent to my grief there. The notary stood by 
him while he dressed, and as I observed, quite unaffected. In- 
deed, to be void of all humanity, to be able to behold one's fel- 
low-creatures groaning and ready to expire in the most exquis- 
ite torments cruelty can invent, without being in the least af- 
fected with their sufferings, is one of the chief qualifications 
of an inquisitor, and what all who belong to the Inquisition 
must strive to attain to. It often happens, at that infernal trib- 
unal, that while an unhappy, and probably an innocent person 
is crying out in their presence on the rack, and begging by all 
that is sacred for one moment's relief, in a manner one would 
think no human heart could withstand; it often happens, I say, 
that the Inquisitor and the rest of that inhuman crew, quite 
unaffected with his complaints, and deaf to his groans, to his 
tears and entreaties, are entertaining one another with the 
news of the town; nay, sometimes they even insult, with un- 
heard of barbarity, the unhappy wretches in the height of their 
torment. 

To return to my unhappy prisoner; he was no sooner dress- 
ed, than I ordered the Bargello, or head of the Sbirri, to tie his 



236 



bower's narrative of the 



hands with a cord behind his back, as is practised on such oc- 
casions, without distinction of persons ; no more regard being 
shewn by the Inquisition to men of the first rank, when char- 
ged with heresy, than to the meanest artificers. Heresy dis- 
solves all friendship; so that I durst no longer look upon the 
man with whom I had lived in the greatest friendship and in- 
timacy as my friend, or shew him, on that account, the least 
regard or indulgence. 

As we left the chamber, the countess, who had been con- 
veyed out of the room, met us, and screaming out in a most 
pitiful manner, upon seeing her husband with his hands tied 
behind his back, like a thief or robber, flew to embrace him, 
and hanging on his neck, begged, with a flood of tears, we 
would be so merciful as to put an end to her life, that she 
might have the satisfaction, the only satisfaction she wished 
for in this world, of dying in the bosom of the man whom she 
had vowed never to part with. The count, overwhelmed with 
grief, did not utter a single word. I could not find in my heart, 
nor was I in a condition to interpose ; and indeed, a scene of 
greater distress was never beheld by human eyes. However, 
I gave signal to the notary to part them, which he did accord- 
ingly, quite unconcerned; but the countess fell into a swoon, 
and the count was, in the meantime, carried down stairs, and 
out of the house, amidst the loud lamentations and sighs 
of his servants, on all sides ; for he was a man remarkable 
for the sweetness of his temper, and his kindness to all about 
him. 

Being arrived at the Inquisition, I consigned my prisoner 
into the hands of the goaler, a lay brother of St. Dominic, who 
shut him up in the dungeon mentioned above, and delivered 
the key to me. I lay that night in the palace of the Inquisi- 
tion, where every counsellor has a room, and returned next 
morning the key to the inquisitor, telling him that his order 
had been punctually complied with. The inquisitor had been 
already informed of my whole conduct by the notary; and 
therefore, upon my delivering the key to him, 'You have acted 
(said he,) like one who is desirous at least to overcome with 
the assistance of grace, the inclinations of nature that is, like 
one who is desirous, with the assistance of grace, to meta- 
morphose himself from a human creature, into a brute or a 
devil. 

In the Inquisition, every prisoner is kept the first week of his 
imprisonment, in a dark narrow dungeon, so low that he can- 
not stand upright in it, without seeing any body but the gaoler, 



« ■ 



INQUISITION AT MACERATA • 



237 



who brings him, every other day, his portion of bread and wa- 
ter, the only food that is allowed him. This is done, they say, 
to tame him, and render him, thus weakened, more sensible 
of the torture, and less able to bear it. At the end of the 
week, he is brought in the night before the board to be exam- 
ined; and on that occasion, my poor friend appeared so altered, 
in a week's time that, had it not been for his dress, I should not 
have known him; and indeed no wonder; a change of condi 
tion so sudden and unexpected; the unworthy and barbarous 
treatment he had already met with; the apprehension of what 
he might, and probably should suffer ; and perhaps, more than 
any thing else, the distressed and forlorn condition of his once 
happy wife, whom he tenderly loved, whose company he had 
enjoyed only six months, could be attended with no other effect. 
Being asked, according to custom, whether he had any ene- 
mies, and desired to name them; he answered, that he bore 
enmity to no man, and hoped that no man bore enmity to him 
For as, in the Inquisition, the person accused is not told of the 
charge brought against him, nor of the person by whom it is 
brought; the Inquisitor asks him whether he has any enemies, 
and desires him to name them. If he names the informer, all 
further proceedings are stopped till the informer is examined 
anew ; and if the information is found to proceed from ill-will, 
and no collateral proof can be produced, the prisoner is dis- 
charged. Of this piece of justice they frequently boast, at 
the same time that they admit, both as informers and witness- 
es, persons of the most infamous characters, and such as are 
excluded by all other courts. In the next place, the prisoner 
is ordered to swear that he will declare the truth, and conceal 
nothing from the holy tribunal, concerning himself or others, 
that he knows, and the holy tribunal is desirous to know. He 
is then interrogated for what crime he has been apprehended 
and imprisoned by the Holy Court of the Inquisition, of all 
courts the most equitable, the most cautious, the most merci- 
ful. To that interrogatory the count answered, with a faint 
and trembling voice, that he was not conscious to himself of 
any crime, cognizable by that Holy Court, nor indeed by any 
other; that he believed, and ever had believed whatever holy 
mother church believed, or required him to believe. He had, 
it seems, quite forgot what he had unthinkingly said at the 
sight of the two friars. The Inquisitor, therefore, finding he 
did not remember, or would not own his crime, after many de- 
ceitful interrogatories, and promises which he never intended 
to fulfil, ordered him back to his dungeon, and allowing him 



238 



bower's narrative of the 



another week, as is customary in such cases, to recollect him- 
self, told him, that if he could not in that time prevail upon 
himself to declare the truth, agreeable to his oath, means 
would be found of forcing it from him,* and he must expect no 
mercy. 

At the end of the week he was brought again before the in- 
fernal tribunal, and being asked the same questions, returned 
the same answers, adding, that if he had done or said any 
thing amiss, unwittingly or ignorantly, he was ready to own 
it, provided the least hint of it were given him by any there 
present, which he entreated them most earnestly to do. He 
often looked at me, and seemed to expect, which gave me such 
concern as no words can express, that I should say something 
in his favor. But I was not allowed to speak oh this occasion, 
nor was any of the counsellors j and had I been allowed to 
speak, I durst not have said any thing in his favor ; the advo- 
cate appointed by the Inquisition, and commonly styled, 'The 
Devil's Advocate,' being the only person that is suffered to 
speak for the prisoner. This advocate belongs to the Inquisi- 
tion, receives a salary of the Inquisition, and is bound by an 
oath to abandon the defence of the prisoner if he undertakes 
it, or not to undertake it, if he finds it cannot be defended 
agreeably to the laws of the Holy Inquisition ; so that the whole 
is mere sham and imposition. I have heard this advocate, on 
other occasions, allege something in favor of the person accu- 
sed ; but on this occasion he declared that he had nothing to 
offer in defence of the criminal. 

In the Inquisition, the person accused is always supposed 
guilty, unless he has named the accuser among his enemies : 
and he is put to the torture if he does not plead guilty, and own 
the crime that is laid to his charge, without being so much as 
told what it is ; whereas, in all other courts, where tortures are 
used, the charge is declared to the party accused before he is 
tortured ; nor are they ever inflicted without a credible evi 
dence brought of his guilt. But in the Inquisition, a man is 
frequently tortured upxm the deposition of a person whose ev- 
idence would be admitted in no other court, and in all cases 
without hearing his charge. As my unfortunate friend contin- 
ued to maintain his innocence, not recollecting what he had 
said, he was, agreeably to the laws of the Inquisition, put to 
the torture. He had scarce borne it twenty minutes, crying 
out the whole time, f Jesus Maria,' when his voice failed him 
at once, and he fainted away. He was then supported, as he 
hung by his arms, by two of the Sbirri, whose province it is to 



ft a 



INQUISITION AT MAC ER ATA. 



239 



manage the torture, till he returned to himself. He still con- 
tinued to declare that he could not recollect his having said or 
done any thing contrary to the Catholic faith, and earnestly 
begged they would let him know with what he was charged y 
being ready to own it, if it was true. The Inquisitor was then 
so gracious as to put him in mind of what he had said on see- 
ing the two Capuchins. The reason why they so long con- 
ceal from the party accused, the crime he is charged with, is, 
that if he should be conscious to himself of his having ever 
said or done any thing contrary to the faith, which he is not 
charged with, he may discover that too, imagining it to be the, 
very crime he is accused of. After a short pause, the poor 
gentleman owned that he had said something to that purpose - T 
but, as he had said it with no evil intention, he had never more 
thought of it from that time to the present. He added, but 
with so faint a voice as scarce could be heard, that for his 
rashness, he was willing to undergo what punishment soever 
the holy tribunal should think fit to impose on him; and he 
again fainted away. Being eased for a while of his torment,, 
and returned to himself, he was interrogated by the promoter 
fiscal (whose business it is to accuse and to prosecute r as nei- 
ther the informer nor the witnesses are ever to appear) con- 
cerning his intention. For, in the Inquisition, it is not enough 
for the party accused to confess the fact, he must likewise de- 
clare whether his intention was heretical or not; and many, 
to redeem themselves from the torments they can no longer 
endure, own their intention was heretical, though it really was 
not. My poor friend often told us he was ready to say what- 
ever he pleased ; but, as he never directly acknowledged his 
intention to have been heretical, as is required by the rules of 
that court, he was kept on the torture till, quite overcome with 
the violence of the anguish, he was ready to expire ; and being 
then taken down, he was carried quite senseless, back to his 
dungeon; and there^on the third day, death put an end to his 
sufferings. The inquisitor wrote a note to his widow, to de- 
sire her to pray for the soul of her late husband, and warn her 
not to complain of the holy Inquisition, as capable of any in- 
justice or cruelty. The estate was confiscated to the Inquisi- 
tion, and a small jointure allowed out of it to the widow. As 
they had only been married six months, and some part of the 
fortune was not yet paid, the Inquisitor sent an order to the 
Constantini family, at Fermo, to pay to the holy office, and 
without delay, what they owed to the late count della Torre. 
For the effects of heretics are all ipso facto confiscated to the 



240 



bower's narrative of the 



Inquisition, and confiscated from the very day, not of their con- 
viction, but of their crime ; so that all donations made after that 
time are void; and whatever they have given, is claimed by 
the Inquisition, into whatsoever hands it may have passed; 
even the fortunes they have given to their daughters in mar- 
riage, have been declared to belong to, and are claimed by 
the Inquisition; nor can it be doubted, that the desire of those 
confiscations is one great cause of the injustice and cruelty of 
that court. 

The death of the unhappy count della Torre was soon pub- 
licly known ; but no man cared to speak of it, not even his 
nearest relations, nor so much as to mention his name, lest 
any thing should inadvertently escape them that might be con- 
strued into a disapprobation of the proceedings of the most ho- 
ly tribunal; so great is the awe all men live in of that jealous 
and merciless court. 

The other instance of the cruelty of the Inquisition, related 
in the spurious account of my escape published by Mr. Baron, 
happened some years before I belonged to the Inquisition ; and 
I do not relate it as happening in my time, but only as happen- 
ing in the Inquisition of Macerata. It is related at length in 
the annals of that Inquisition, and the substance of the rela- 
tion is as follows : An order was sent from the high tribunal at 
Rome, to all the inquisitors throughout Italy, enjoining them 
to apprehend a clergyman minutely described in that order. 
One answering the description in many particulars being dis- 
covered in the diocese of Osimo, at a small distance from 
Macerata, and subject to that inquisition, he was there decoy- 
ed into the Inquisition, and by an order from Rome, so racked 
as to lose the use of his senses. In the mean time the true 
person being apprehended, the unhappy wretch was dismissed 
by a second order from Rome ; but he never recovered the use 
of his senses, nor was any care taken of him by the Inquisi- 
tion. Father Piazza, who was then Vicar at Osimo to Father 
Montecuccoli, Inquisitor at Macerata, and died some years ago 
a good Protestant, at Cambridge, published an account of this 
affair, that entirely agrees with the account I read of it in the 
records of the Inquisition. 

The deep impression that the death of my unhappy friend, 
the most barbarous and inhuman treatment he had met with, 
and the part I had been obliged to act in so affecting a tragedy, 
made on my mind, got at once the better of my fears ; so that 
forgetting in a manner the dangers I had till then so much ap- 
prehended, I resolved, without further delay, to put in execu- 



INQUISITION AT MAC ER ATA. 



241 



tion the design I had formed of quitting the Inquisition, and 
bidding forever adieu to Italy. To execute that design with 
some safety, I proposed to beg leave of the Inquisitor to visit 
the Virgin of Loretto, but thirteen miles distant, and to pass a 
week there j but in the mean time, to make the best of my way 
to the country of the Grisons, the nearest country to Macerata, 
out of the reach of the Inquisition. Having therefore, after 
many conflicts with myself, asked leave to visit the neighbor- 
ing sanctuary, and obtained it, I set out on horseback the very 
next morning, leaving, as I proposed to keep the horse, his full 
value with the owner. I took the road to Loretto, but turned 
out of it at a small distance from Recanati, after a most vio- 
lent struggle with myself, the attempt appearing to me, at that 
juncture, quite desperate and impracticable; and the dreadful 
doom reserved for me, should I miscarry, presented itself to 
my mind in the strongest light. But the reflection that I had 
it in my power to avoid being taken alive, and a persuasion 
that a man in my situation might lawfully avoid it, when eve- 
ry other means failed him, at the expense of his life, revived 
my staggered resolution ; and all my fears ceasing at once, I 
steered my course, leaving Loretto behind me, to Rocca Con- 
trada, to Fossonbrone, to Calvi in the dukedom of Urbino, and 
from thence through the Romagna into the Bolognese, keeping 
the by-roads, and at a good distance from the cities of Fano, 
Pesaro, Rimini, Forli, Faenza, and Imola, through which the 
high road passed. Thus I advanced very slowly, travelling, 
generally speaking, in very bad roads, and often in places 
where there was no road at all, to avoid, not only the cities 
and towns, but even the villages. In the mean time, I seldom 
had any other support but some coarse provisions, and a very 
small quantity even of them, that the poor shepherds, the 
countrymen, or wood cleavers, I met in those unfrequented by- 
places, could spare me. My horse fared not much better than 
myself; but, in choosing my sleeping place, I consulted his 
convenience as much as my own, passing the night were I 
found most shelter for myself, and most grass for him. In 
Italy there are a very few solitary farm houses or cottages, 
the country people there all live together in villages ; and I 
thought it far safer to lie where I could be any way sheltered, 
than to venture into any of them. Thus I spent seventeen 
days before I got out of the ecclesiastical state ; and I very 
narrowly escaped being taken or murdered, on the very bor- 
ders of that state ; it happened thus : 

I had passed two whole days without any kind of subsis- 
X 



242 



BOWES'S NARRATIVE OF THE 



tence whatever, meeting with nobody in the by-roads that 
would supply me with any, and fearing to come near any 
house, as I was not far from the borders of the dominions of 
the Pope. I thought I should be able to hold it till I got into 
the Modanese, where I believed I should be in less danger 
than while I remained in the papal dominions ; but finding my- 
self, about noon of the third day, extremely weak and ready 
to faint away, I came into the high road that leads from Bo- 
logna to Florence, a few miles distant from the former city, 
and alighted at a post house, that stood quite by itself. Hav- 
ing asked the woman of the house whether she had any victuals 
ready, and being told that she had, I went to open the door of 
the only room in the house, (that being a place where gentle- 
men only stop to change horses,) and saw to my great sur- 
prise, a placard pasted on it, with a most minute description 
of my whole person, and the promise of a reward of 800 
crowns (about £200 English money) for delivering me up 
alive to the Inquisition, being a fugitive from the holy tribunal, 
and of 600 crowns for my head. By the same placard, all 
persons were forbidden, on the pain of the greater excommuni- 
cation, to receive, harbor, or entertain me, to conceal, or screen 
me, or to be any way aiding and assisting to me in making 
my escape. This greatly alarmed me, as the reader may 
well imagine ; but I was still more affrighted, when entering 
the room, I saw two fellows drinking there, who, fixing their 
eyes upon me as soon as I came in, continued looking at me 
very steadfastly. I strove, by wiping my face, by blowing 
my nose, by looking out of the window, to prevent their hav- 
ing a full view of me. But, one of them saying, 6 The gen- 
tleman seems afraid to be seen,' ' I put up my handkerchief, 
and turning to the fellow, said boldly, 1 What do you mean, 
you rascal? Look at me — am I afraid to be seen? He said 
nothing, but looking again steadfastly at me, and nodding his 
head, went out, and his companion immediately followed him. 
I watched them, and seeing them, with two or three more, in 
close conference, and no doubt consulting whether they should 
apprehend me or not, I walked that moment into the stable, 
mounted my horse unobserved by them, and while they were 
deliberating in an orchard, behind the house, rode off full 
speed, and in a few hours got into the Modanese, where I re- 
freshed both with food and with rest, as I was there in no im- 
mediate danger, my horse and myself. I was indeed surprised 
to find that those fellows did not pursue me : nor can I any 
other way account for it, but by supposing, what is not im- 



INQUISITION AT MAC EE AT A. 



243 



probable, that, as they were strangers, as well as myself, and 
had all the appearance of banditti or ruffians flying out of the 
dominions of the Pope, the woman of the house did not care 
to trust them with her horses. From the Modanese I con- 
tinued my journey, more leisurely through the Parmesan, the 
Milanese, and part of the Venetian territory, to Chiavenna, 
subject, with its district, to the Grisons, who abhor the very 
name of the Inquisition, and are ever ready to receive and 
protect all who, flying from it, take refuge, as many Italians 
do, in their dominions. However, as I proposed getting as 
soon as I could to the city of Bern, the metropolis of that great 
Protestant canton, and was informed that my best way was 
through the cantons of Ury and Underwald, and part of the 
canton of Lucern, all three popish cantons, I carefully conceal- 
ed who I was, and from whence I came. For, though no In- 
quisition prevails among the Swiss, yet the Pope's nuncio, 
who resides at Lucern, might have persuaded the magistrates 
of those popish cantons to stop me, as an apostate and deserter 
from the order. 

Having rested a few days at Chiavenna, I resumed my 
journey quite refreshed, continuing it through the country of 
the Grisons, and the two small cantons of Ury and Under- 
wald, to the canton of Lucern. There I missed my way, as I 
was quite unacquainted with the country, and discovering a 
city at a distance, was advancing to it, but very slowly, as I 
knew not where I was; when a countryman, whom I met, 
informed me that the city before me was Lucern. Upon that 
intelligence, I turned out of the road as soon as the country- 
man was out of sight; and that night I passed with a good- 
natured shepherd in his cottage, who supplied me with sheep's 
milk, and my horse with plenty .of grass. I set out very early 
next morning, making the best of my way westward, as I knew 
that Bern lay west of Lucern. But, after a few miles, the 
country proved very mountainous, and, having travelled the 
whole day over mountains, I was overtaken among them by 
night. As I was looking out for a place where I might shel- 
ter myself during the night, against the snow and the rain, (for 
it both snowed and rained,) I perceived a light at a distance, 
and making towards it, got into a kind of a foot-path, but so 
narrow and rugged that I was obliged to lead my horse, and 
feel my way with one foot, (having no light to direct me,) be- 
fore 1 durst move the other. Thus, with much difficulty, I 
reached the place where the light was, a poor little cottage, 
and knocking at the door, was asked by a man within, who I 



244 



bower's narrative of the 



was, and what I wanted ? I answered that I was a stranger, 
and had lost my way. 6 Lost your way V replied the man, 
i there is no way here to lose.' I then asked him in what can- 
ton I was, and upon his answering, that I was in the canton of 
Bern, ' 1 thank God,' I cried out, transported with joy, £ that I 
am. 1 The good man answered, ( And so do I.' I then told 
him who I was, and that I was going to Bern, but had quite 
lost myself, by keeping out of all the high roads, to avoid fall- 
ing into the hands of those who sought my destruction. He 
thereupon opened the door; received and entertained me with 
all the hospitality his poverty would admit of; regaled me 
with sour crout and some new laid eggs, the only provisions 
he had, and clean straw with a kind of rug for my bed, he hav- 
ing no other for himself and his wife. The good woman ex- 
pressed as much satisfaction and good nature in her counte- 
nance, as her husband, and said many kind things in the 
Swiss language, which her husband interpreted to me in the 
Italian ; for that language he well understood, and spoke so as 
to be understood, having learned it, as he told me, in his 
youth, while servant in a public house on the borders of Italy, 
where both languages are spoken. I never passed a more 
comfortable night; and no sooner did I begin to stir in the 
morning, than the good man and his wife came both to know 
how I had rested ; and, wishing they had been able to accom- 
modate me better, obliged me to breakfast on two eggs, which 
providence, they said, had supplied them with for that purpose. 
I then took leave of the wife, who, with her eyes lifted up to 
heaven, seemed most sincerely to wish me a good journey. 
"As for the husband, he would by all means attend me to the 
high road leading to Bern ; which road, he said, was but two 
miles distant from that place. But he insisted on my first go- 
ing back with him, to see the way I had come the night before ; 
the only way, he said, I could have possibly come from the 
neighboring canton of Lucern. I saw it, and shuddered at the 
danger I had escaped ; for I found that I had walked and led 
my horse a good way along a very narrow path on the brink 
of a very dangerous precipice. The man made so many pious 
.and pertinent remarks on the occasion, as both charmed and 
surprised me. I no less admired his disinterestedness than 
his piety; for, upon our parting, after he had attended me till 
I was out of all danger of losing my way, I could by no means 
prevail upon him to accept of any reward for his trouble. He 
had the satisfaction, he said, of having relieved me in the 



INQUISITION AT MACEKATA. 



245 



greatest distress, which was in itself a sufficient reward, and 
he cared for no other. 

I reached Bern that night, and proposed staying some time 
there ; but being informed by the principal minister of the 
place, to whom I discovered myself, that boats were frequently 
down the Rhine, at that time of the year, with goods and pas- 
sengers from Basil to Holland, and advised by him to avail 
myself of that opportunity, I set out accordingly the next day, 
and crossing the popish canton of Soleurre in the night, but 
very carefully avoiding the town of that name, I got early the 
next morning to Basil. There I met with a most friendly re- 
ception from one of the ministers of the place, having been 
warmly recommended to him by a letter I brought with me 
from his brother at Bern. As a boat was to sail in two days, 
he entertained me very elegantly during that time at his house, 
and I embarked the third day, leaving my horse to my host, 
in return for his kindness. 

The company in the boat consisted of a few traders, of a 
great many vagabonds, the very refuse of the neighboring na- 
tions, and some criminals flying from justice. But I was not 
long with them ; for the boat striking against a rock not far 
from Strasburgh, I resolved not to wait till it was refitted, (as 
it was not my design to go to Holland) but to pursue my jour- 
ney partly in the common diligence or stage-coach, and partly 
on post horses, through France into Flanders. 

Having got safe into French Flanders, I there repaired to 
the college of the Scotch Jesuits at Douay, and discovering 
myself to the rector, I acquainted him with the cause of my 
sudden departure from Italy, and begged him to give immedi- 
ate notice of my arrival, as well as of the motives of my flight, 
to Michael Angelo Tambuvini, general of the order, and my 
very particular friend. 

The rector wrote, as I had desired him, to the general, and 
the general, taking no notice of my flight, in his answer, (for 
he could not disapprove it, and did not think it safe to approve 
it,) ordered me to continue where I was till further orders. I 
arrived at Douay early in May; and continued there till the 
latter end of June, or the beginning of July, when the rector 
received a second letter from the general, acquainting him, 
that he had been commanded by the congregation of the Inqui- 
| sition, to order me, wherever I was, back to Italy; to promise 
me, in their name, full pardon and forgiveness, if I obeyed; 
but if I did not obey, to treat me as an apostate. He added, 
that the same order had been transmitted, soon after my 

x2 



246 



BOWES S NARRATIVE OF THE 



flight, to the nuncios at the different Roman Catholic courts; 
and he, therefore, advised me to consult my own safety with- 
out further delay. 

Upon the receipt of the general's kind letter, the rector was 
of opinion that I should repair by all means, and without loss 
of time, to England, not only as the safest asylum I could fly 
to, in my present situation, but as a place where I should soon 
recover my native language, and be usefully employed, as 
soon as I recovered it, either there or in Scotland. I readily 
closed with the rector's opinion, being very uneasy in my mind, 
as my old doubts, in point of religion, daily gained ground, 
and new ones arose upon my reading (which was my only 
employment) the books of controversy I found in the library 
of the college. The place being thus agreed on, and its being 
at the same time settled between the rector and me, that I 
should set out on the very next morning, I solemnly promised, 
at his request and desire, to take no kind of notice, after my 
arrival in England, of his having been any ways privy to my 
flight, or of the general's letter to him. This promise I have 
faithfully and honorably observed ; and should have thought my- 
self guilty of the blackest ingratitude if I had not observed it, be- 
ing sensible that, had it been known at Rome, that either the rec- 
tor or general had been accessary to my flight, the Inquisition 
would have resented it severely in both. For, although a Je- 
suit in France, in Flanders, or in Germany, is out of the reach 
of the Inquisition, the general is not ; and the high tribunal not 
only have it in their power to punish the general himself, 
who resides constantly at Rome, but may oblige him to in- 
flict what punishment they please on any of the order noxious 
to them. 

The rector went that very night out of town ; and in his ab- 
sence, but not without his privity, I took one of the horses of 
the college, early next morning, as if I were going for change 
of air, being somewhat indisposed, to pass a few days at Lisle ; 
but steering a different course, I reached Aire that night, and 
Calais the next day. I was there in no danger of being stop- 
ped and seized at the prosecution of the Inquisition, a tribunal 
no less abhorred in France than in England. But, being in- 
formed by the general, that the nuncios at the different courts 
had been ordered, soon after my flight, to cause me to be appre- 
hended in Roman Catholic countries, through which I might 
pass, as an apostate or deserter from the order, I was under no 
small apprehension of being discovered and apprehended as 
such, even at Calais. No sooner, therefore, did I alight at 



INQUISITION AT MAC ER AT A. 



247 



the inn, than I went down to the quay ; and there, as I was very 
little acquainted with the sea, and thought the passage much 
shorter than it is, I endeavored to engage some fishermen to 
carry me that very night, in one of their small vessels, over 
to England. This alarmed the guards of the harbor j and I 
should have been certainly apprehended, as a person guilty, 
or suspected of some great crime, fleeing from justice, had not 
Lord Baltimore, whom I had the good luck to meet in the inn, 
informed me of my danger, and pitying my condition, attended 
me that moment, with all his company, to the port, and con- 
veyed me immediately on board of his yacht. There I lay 
that night, leaving every thing I had, but the clothes on my 
back, in the inn; and the next day his lordship set me ashore 
at Dover, from whence I came in the common stage to London. 



A SUMMARY 



OF THE 

ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 

When Romanists are charged with worshipping images^ 
saints, the Virgin Mary, &c. and believing that their priests 
can forgive sins • opposing the reading of the scriptures ; and 
with other errors, it is not uncommon for them to deny the 
truth of the accusation, and treat it as an unfounded slander. 
We have thought, therefore, that a short but comprehensive 
view of their faith, as epitomized by themselves, and support- 
ed by extracts from their standard writings, while it comported 
with the objects of this volume, would prove highly instructive 
and interesting to its readers. 

The following summary, it will be perceived, is in the form 
of an oath. It was set forth by Pope Pius IV, and comprises 
the substance of the decrees of the council of Trent. Our 
readers will here discover, that one grand difference between 
Protestants and Catholics is, that while the former receive the 
Bible as the only divine rule of faith, the latter acknowledge 
the acts of Councils, the traditions of the Church, &c. as of 
inspired authority. And as those acts and traditions are not 
unfrequently opposed to the word of God, — yea, are most mon- 
strously erroneous and wicked — some may account for the 
fact, that the Romish priesthood, where they have the power 
to prevent it, will never suffer the people to possess or read the 
Bible. It requires nothing under the divine blessing, but a 
universal knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, to overthrow 
every fabric of superstition, idolatry, and tyranny. 

Summary, &c. 

After reciting the Nicene creed, the oath proceeds — 
"I most firmly admit and embrace the apostolical and eccle- 
siastical traditions, and all other observances and constitu- 
tions of the same church, (i. e. the Romish church.) Also, I 

248 



A SUMMARY, ETC. 



249 



admit sacred scripture, according to the sense which has been 
held and is held by holy mother church, to whom it belongs 
to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the sacred 
scriptures : nor will I ever receive or interpret it (scripture) 
except according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers. 

I also profess that there are truly and properly, seven sac- 
raments of the new law, instituted by okt Lord Jesus Christ, 
and necessary, though not for each singly, yet for the whole 
human ra^e, viz. Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Pen- 
ance, Extreme Unction, Orders and Matrimony ; and that they 
confer grace ; and that, of these, baptism, confirmation and or- 
ders cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive 
and admit the received and approved rites of the Catholic 
Church, in the solemn administration of all the above men- 
tioned sacraments. 

I embrace and receive all and each of those things, which, 
in the Holy Council of Trent, have been defined and declared 
concerning original sin and justification. 

I, in like manner, profess, that in the Mass is offered to God 
a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the 
dead; and that, in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, 
there is truly, really and substantially, the body and blood, 

TOGETHER WITH THE SOUL AND DIVINITY OF OUR LORD JESUS 

Christ ; and that there is made the change of the whole sub- 
stance of the bread into the body, and the whole substance of 
the wine into the blood, which change the Catholic Church 
calls Transubstantiation : I confess, also, that under each kind 
alone, the whole and entire Christ and the true sacrament is 
taken. 

I firmly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls 
there detained, are helped by the suffrages of the faithful : — 
Likewise, the Saints reigning together with Christ, are to be 
venerated and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for 
us; and that their reliques are to be venerated. I most firm- 
ly assert that the images of Christ, and of the Mother of God, 
ever virgin ; and also of the other saints, are to be held and re- 
tained, and a due honor and veneration is to be granted them. 

I affirm also, that the power of indulgences was left by 
Christ in his church, and that the use of them is in the highest 
degree salutary to christian people. 

I acknowledge the holy catholic and apostolical Romish 
church, to be mother and mistress of all churches ; and I 
promise and swear true obedience to the Roman Pontiff, sue- 



250 



A SUMMARY OP THE 



cessor of the blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar 
of Jesus Christ. 

Also, all other things, handed down, denned, and declared 
by the sacred canons and general councils, and chiefly by the 
most holy of Trent, I undoubtingly receive and profess : and, 
at the same time, all things contrary, and all heresies whatev- 
er condemned, rejected, and anathematized, I, in like manner, 
condemn, reject, and anathematize. And this true catholic 

faith, OUT OF WHICH NO ONE CAN HAVE SALVATION, which at 

present I voluntarily profess and truly hold, I, the said A. B. 
promise, vow, and swear, that I will hold and confess the same 
entire and inviolate, to the last breath of my life, most con- 
stantly, God being my helper : and that I will take care as far 
as lies in me, that the same shall be held, taught, and preached 
by my subjects, or by those, the care of whom pertains to me 
by my office. So God help me and these holy gospels of 
God." 

We would now call the attention of our readers to some re- 
marks on the more important and distinguishing articles of the 
preceding summary of Roman Catholic Faith, and to some il- 
lustrations of these articles, drawn from standard writings of 
that denomination. 

The Bible and Traditions. 

Traditions, it will be seen, are placed before the Bible in 
this epitome of faith. Indeed, the Word of God, as a rule of 
belief and conduct is, in effect, done away ; and the interpreta- 
tions of the church are put in its place. So that in every case, 
the inquiry of the faithful Romanist must be — not what saith 
the scripture — but, ixkat saith "Mother Church?'''' Not to fol- 
low the church, however opposed she may be to the Bible, 
would be a violation of his oath. 

The celebrated Council of Trent, which was called by a 
Bull of Pope Paul III. in the year 1542, decreed that the Ro- 
man Catholic church received and venerated with equal affec- 
tion of piety and reverence, the Bible and traditions. "Om- 
nes libros tarn veteris quam novi Testamenti,— nec non Tra- 
ditiones — pari pietatis affectum revercntia suscipitj el venera- 
turP When, however, tradition was not in accordance with 
the Word of God, it would be manifestly impossible to conform 
to this decree, unless a man could conscientiously receive and 
reverence a truth and its opposite error at the same time.' And 
therefore, to relieve the conscience of the Romanist, it was 
necessary that the right of interpreting the Bible should be 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



251 



given exclusively to Mother Church, who is also the keeper 
of Tradition. Hence the Papist has, in fact and strictly speak- 
ing, only one standard of faith, and that is neither the Bible 
nor Tradition, but the Church. He professes, indeed, to ac- 
knowledge both the scriptures and tradition ; but he is really 
bound to receive and obey whatever Mother Church declares 
to be the truth as contained in the Bible and Tradition. She 
must decide for him in every case, and from her judgment 
there can be no appeal. What her judgment is concerning 
the reading of the scriptures by the people, let us now see. It 
is to be found in the fourth of the "Ten Rules concerning pro- 
hibited Books" established by the Fathers of the Council of 
Trent, and Pope Pius Fourth. 

"Since, by experiment, it is manifest that if the holy bible in 
the common tongue be universally and indiscriminately per- 
mitted, more harm than utility will thence arise, on account of 
the temerity of men — in this particular let it be determined by 
the judgment of the Bishop or Inquisitor, — so that, with his 
counsel, the parish ministers or confessors, can grant the read- 
ing of the bible in the common tongue, translated by Catholic 
authors, to those who they shall have understood, can, from 
reading of this kind, receive not loss, but increase of faith and 
piety, — which license let them have in writing. But he who 
shall presume, without such license, to read or have the bible, 
unless it first be given up to the ordinary, cannot receive ab- 
solution of sins. Moreover, let Booksellers, who shall sell, or 
in any other way grant the bible written in the common dia- 
lect, to a person not having the aforesaid license, lose the 
price of the book, to be converted by the Bishop to pious uses, 
and let them be subjected to other punishments, according to 
the quality of their offence, at the will of the same Bishop. 
Furthermore, Regulars, (that is, those who are bound by the 
rules of some religious order, as Dominicans, Franciscans, &c.) 
except by license had from their prelates, cannot read or buy 
the bible." 

It will be perceived that this law places the reading of the 
scriptures among Romanists, entirely under the control of 
Bishops and Inquisitors. Without their consent and approba- 
tion, the bible cannot be sold, bought, read or possessed. Is 
it wonderful, therefore, that Pope Pius VII, in the nineteenth 
century, (June 29, 1816,) should have used the following lan- 
guage concerning Bible Societies? — "We have been truly 
shocked at this most crafty device, (Bible Societies) by which 
the very foundations of religion" (Roman Catholicism) "are 



252 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



undermined. We have deliberated upon the measures proper 
to be adopted by our pontifical authority, in order to remedy 
and abolish this pestilence, as far as possible, — This defilement 
of the faith so imminently dangerous to souls. It becomes 
episcopal duty, (i. e. the duty of the Roman Catholic Bishops,) 
that you first of all, expose the wickedness of this nefarious 
scheme. It is evident from experience, that the holy scrip- 
tures, when circulated in the vulgar tongue, have, through the 
temerity of men, produced more harm than benefit. Warn 
the people entrusted to your care, that they fall not into the 
snares prepared for their everlasting ruin" (that is, as you value 
your souls, have nothing to do with Bible Societies, or the bi- 
bles they circulate.) "The deep sorrow we feel on account 
of this new species of tares, which an Adversary has so abun- 
dantly sown." * 

It requires only the power in the hands of the Roman Cath- 
olic church to make the Word of God a prohibited book in 
every land. 

Opus Operatum, or the Efficacy of the Sacraments. 

Romanists hold that the Sacraments " confer grace," ex op- 
ere operato, i. e. by the work wrought, or " by virtue of the 
work and word done and said in the sacraments." According- 
ly, to instance one ordinance, they hold that every person bap- 
tized is thereby justified; and that none are ever justified with- 
out baptism : — "instrumentalis (causa) justificationis Sacramen- 
tum Baptismi; quod est Sacramentum fidei, sine qua nulli 
umquam contigit Justificatio. — (Concillii Trid. Sess. VI. Cap. 
VII.) " Faith in the receiver giveth no efficacy to the sacra- 
ment, but only taketh away the lets and impediments which 
might hinder the efficacy of the sacraments ; as the dryness 
of the wood maketh it to burn the better, yet it is no efficient 
cause of the burning, which is the fire only, but only a help." 
■ — (Willet. Synop. Papismi. Bellarm. Lib. 2, De Sac. Cap. 1.) 
Protestants deny that the ordinances have any power to confer 
grace " ex opere operato :" they regard these simply as the 
means under the influence of the Holy Spirit of strengthening 
faith and other graces, wrought in the heart by the same spirit. 
If there is no faith exercised, it is unscriptural and unreason- 
able to suppose there can be any blessing in the participation 
of an ordinance. On the contrary, such participation is to 

* The above Denunciatory Epistle, or Bull, was addressed to the Primate 
of Poland. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



253 



profane God's institution, and brings down condemnation on 
the head of the guilty. 

From the superstitious notion that the sacraments " confer 
grace," ex opere operato, have arisen manifold and most enor- 
mous abuses. Such a principle carried out into practice, 
must necessarily destroy the spiritual character of Christ's 
church. All, according to this system, who come to the sac- 
raments are Christians, and all ought to come, because grace 
is conferred ex opere operato. A church may in this way be 
built up entirely of worldly and unconverted men, who merely 
conform to the outward institutions of religion. How far 
such a state of things has been realized, facts but too plainly 
show. 

That the reader may have more fully before him the views 
which the papal church maintains concerning the power of 
the sacraments, we subjoin a few passages from the proceed- 
ings of the Council of Trent. " Si quis dixerit, per ipsa 
novse legis Sacramer.ta ex opere operato non conferri gratiam, 
sed solum fidem divinse promissionis ad gratiam consequendam 
sufficere : anathema sit." If any one shall say, that grace 
is not conferred by the sacraments of the new law (gospel) ex 
opere operato (by the work wrought;) but that only faith in 
the divine promise suffices to obtain grace : let him be accur- 
sed! (Sess. vii., Can. viii.) " Si quis dixerit, in tribus Sacra- 
mentis, Baptismo scilicet, Confirmatione, et Ordine, non im- 
primi characterem in anima, hoc est, signum quoddam spiritale 
et indelebile, unde ea iterari non possunt: anathema sit." 
If any one shall say, that in the three sacraments, viz : Bap- 
tism, Confirmation, and Orders, there is not impressed on the 
soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible 
sign, on account of which these (sacraments) are not to be 
repeated: let him be accursed! (Sess. vii., Can. ix.) 

If any deny that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
is conferred in Baptism, the guilt of original sin is taken 
away, — or even assert that all that is not taken away (in bap- 
tism) which has the true and proper nature of sin, but that it 
is only erased ( ?) or not imputed : let him be accursed. For 
in those born again (that is baptized) God hates nothing. — 
(Sess. v. Decret. de pec. orig.) 

But as it was perfectly manifest that baptized children,, as 
well as others, when they grew up, exhibited evil inclinations 
and dispositions ; so in order to get over this difficulty, the 
council boldly denies that such inclinations and dispositions, 
are truly and properly sin, and pronounces those accun- 



254 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



sed who think otherwise. If this procedure was not making 
void the law of God by man's tradition, it is hard to say what 
constitutes such impiety. "Hanc concupiscentiam, quam 
aliquando Apostolus peccatum appellat, sancta synodus decla- 
rat Ecclesiam Catholicam numquam intellexisse peccatum ap- 
pellari, quod vere et proprie in renatis peccatum sit, sed quia 
ex peccato est, et ad peccatum inclinat. Si quis autem con- 
trarium senserit, anathema sit" This concupiscence, (or 
lusting to evil,) which the apostle sometimes calls sin, the 
holy Synod (of Trent) declares that the Catholic church has 
never understood it to be called sin in such a sense, that there 
is truly and properly sin in those born again (baptized); but 
(it is called sin) because it proceeded from sin, and inclines 
to sin. If any man shall think otherwise, let him be accur- 
sed! (Sess. v. ut antea.) 

Original Sin and Justification. 

The Council of Trent does not maintain the doctrine of 
total depravit}^ in consequence of Adam's transgression; but 
simply that he was changed thereby for the worse in body and 
soul, — " secundum corpus et animam in deterius commutatum 
fuisse." (Sess. v. Decret. de Pec. Orig.) Accordingly Car- 
dinal Bellarmine thus defines original sin : " Privatio seu ca- 
rentia doni justitise originalis, vel habitualis aversio a Deo." 
A privation or want of the gift of original righteousness, or 
an habitual turning away from God. He denies that this sin 
is any evil disposition or quality inherent in us, but it arises 
only " ex carentia justitise originalis, non ex insita aliqua 
qualitate. " Of course he denies also, with the council of 
Trent, that the concupiscence, or lusting to evil which exists 
in baptized persons is truly and properly sin. 

The Council of Trent declares also, as we have before seen, 
that original sin is altogether taken away in baptism — "totum 
tolli; that without this ordinance none can be justified — and 
consequently that baptism is necessary to the salvation even of 
infants. "Si quis — negat ipsum Christi Jesu meritum perbap- 
tismi Sacramentum in forma Ecclesise rite coilatum tarn adul- 
tis quam parvulis applicari, anathema sit. Quod (originale 
peccatum) regenerationis lavacro necesse sit expiari ad vitam 
aeternam consequendam. And though Bellarmine affirms also 
that infants dying without baptism are eternally punished, 
yet he maintains that it is only a punishment of loss (of hea- 
ven ?), not of pain, or sensible fire"— -damni, non sensus, sive 
ignis sensibilis." 



BOMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



255 



On the subject of justification, Roman Catholics hold a 
doctrine entirely opposed to that ,of Protestants, and as this 
point is fundamental in Christianity, so the one or the other 
has here altogether departed from the faith of the Gospel. The 
latter assert that the obedience of the Saviour unto death, or 
in one word, the merits or righteousness of all done or suffer- 
ed by the incarnate Redeemer, is the sole ground of a sinner's 
acceptance in the sight of heaven ; that he stands on that 
ground simply by faith; and that Christian holiness or a good 
life is the necessary fruits and evidences of justification. — 
Good works, so far from being in any way the ground or cause 
of justification, are never performed until we have been justi- 
fied through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This scheme, it 
will be perceived, takes away from the sinner all room for 
boasting, lays him in the dust, and gives the whole glory of 
his salvation from beginning to end to 6 God our Saviour." 

Protestants are very careful to distinguish between justifica- 
tion and sanctification, — the latter being in each penitent 
believer simply the consequence and proof of the former : So 
that no man, according to their views, can entertain a good 
hope that he has been justified, or pardoned, and regarded as 
righteous before God, who doth not bring forth the fruits of 
sanctification — who is not holy in heart and life. 

What the views of Romanists are on this most important 
subject, may be seen in the subjoined extracts from the decis- 
ions of the Council of Trent : 

The alone formal cause (of justification) is the righteous- 
ness of God — that righteousness with which he makes us right- 
eous — with which forsooth we are endowed by him : we re- 
ceiving this righteousness within ourselves, every one accord- 
ing to his measure, which the Holy Spirit divides to each as he 
wills, and according to each person's own disposition and co- 
operation. (Sess. vi., Cap. vii.) 

Here we see that the " formal,"* that is, essential cause of 
justification, is the man's own holiness, or in other words, that 
righteousness with which the spirit of God endues him. Sanc- 
tification is the ground of justification. How large a space is 
here given for glorying in the merit of works ! 

And as according to the faith of Romanists a man is justified 
by his own holiness, so they assert, that justification admits of 

* " Formal, having the power of making a thing what it is — constituent, 
essential." Webster. — When, e. g, the Saviour is said to be in the form of 
God — the meaning is, he is essentially God. 



256 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



increase. " Sic ergo justificati, et amici Dei, ac Domestici fac- 
ti euntes de virtule in virtutem, renovantur, ut apostolus in- 
quit, de die in diem : hoc est, mortificando membra carnis suae, 
et exhibendo ea arma justitiae in sanctificationem, per observa- 
tionem mandatorum Dei, et Ecclesia, in ipsa justitia per 
Christi gratiam accepta, cooperante fide bonis operibus, cres- 
cunt, atque magis justificantur." Thus, then, justified men, 
made the friends and servants of God, going on from virtue to 
virtue, are renewed, as the apostle says, from day to day; that 
is, in mortifying the members of their flesh, and in using 
these as instruments of righteousness unto holiness by obser- 
vance of the iaws of God and of the Church, they increase in 
that righteousness received by the grace of Christ, faith co- 
operating with good works, and are more justified." — (Sess. 
vi. Chap, x.) 

"Si quis dixerit homines — per earn ipsam," (i. e. justitiam 
Christi,) "formaliter justos esse; anathema sit." Sess. vi. 
Canon x.) If any one shall say that men are formally (es- 
sentially) justified by the very righteousness of Christ, let 
him be accursed. 

" Si quis dixerit, homines, justificari — sola imputatione jus- 
titiae Christi, — anathema sit." If any one shall say that men 
are justified solely by the imputation of Chris fs righteousness; 
let him be accursed. — (Can. xi.) 

"Si quis dixerit, fidem justificantem nihil aliud esse quam 
fiduciam divinae misericordiae, peccata remittentis propter 
Christum; vel earn fiduciam solam esse qua justificamur; 
anathema sit." If any one shall say that justifying faith is 
no other than a reliance on divine mercy remitting sin for 
Christ's sake; or that it is this reliance (trust, or faith) 
alone, by which we are justified; let him be accursed. — 
(Can. xii.) 

How could the great scripture doctrine of justification 
through faith alone on the sole ground of the merits or right- 
eousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, be more plainly expressed 
than it is in the three preceding extracts from the Canons of 
the Council of Trent? And yet this precious, fundamental 
truth of the gospel, and the only foundation of hope to the re- 
ally awakened, penitent, believing soul, is here condemned ; 
and all who hold it are cursed by the Church of Rome ! And 
how long such cursed heretics would escape the flames of the 
Inquisition, had "holy Mother Church" the power of erecting 
one in this land, deserves the serious consideration of all who 
value their religious and civil liberty. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



257 



Let the reader weigh well the following canon. " Si quis 
dixerit, justitiam acceptam non conservari, atque etiam augeri 
coram Deo per bona opera : sed opera ipsa fructus solum mo- 
do et signa esse justificationis adeptse, non autem ipsius au- 
gendae causam j anathema sit." If any one shall say that jus- 
tification received is not preserved, and also increased before 
God through good works; but that such works are only the 
fruits and signs of justification obtained, and not a cause of its 
increase; let him be accursed." — (Can. xxiv.) 

How does the following canon agree with these scriptures ? 
"There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sin- 
neth not. — If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our- 
selves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he 
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Cursed is every 
one that continueth not in all things which are written in 
the book of the law to do them. The law of the Lord is 
perfect. The law is holy ; and the commandment holy, just, 
and good." 

If any shall say that a justified man sins venially, at least, in 
any good work, or, what is still more intolerable, that he sins 
mortally, and therefore deserves eternal punishments ; and on 
account cf that (the sin of his good work) he is not condemned 
only because God does not impute these works for condemna- 
tion; let him be accursed." — (Can. xxv.) 

We subjoin but two more canons on the subject of justifica- 
tion ; — these, the serious reader of the Bible will allow, need 
no comment. 

"If any one shall say that after the grace of justification is 
received, the sin of the penitent sinner so remitted, and his 
desert (guilt) of eternal punishment so blotted out, there re- 
mains no desert of temporal punishment to be paid in this 
world, or hereafter in Purgatory, before an access to the king- 
dom of heaven can be open to him; — let him be accursed." — 
(Can. xxx.) 

"If any one shall say, that the good works of a justified man 
are so the gifts of God, that they are not the good merits of the 
justified man himself; or that the justified man by the good 
works which are done by him through the grace of God and 
the merit of Christ, does not truly deserve the increase of 
grace, eternal life, and, provided he die in a state of grace, the 
attainment of eternal life itself, and the increase of glory; let 
him be accursed. — (Can. xxxii.) 



258 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



Transubstantiation. 

Roman Catholics believe that after the consecration of the 
bread and wine by the priest in the Lord's Supper, these 
are changed into God, and as such ought therefore to be wor- 
shipped. 

Those, however, who have always had the scripture light 
and other religious advantages which are possessed in protes- 
tant communities, can scarcely suppose it possible that so 
monstrously superstitious and idolatrous a dogma as that of 
Transubstantktion, could be received by any body of profess- 
ing christians. But such doubts will all be immediately re- 
moved by a reference to any of the doctrinal standards of the 
Church of Rome. 

"In the first place, the Holy Synod teaches, and openly and 
simply professes, that in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, 
after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus 
Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially 
contained under the form of these sensible things." That is, 
what appears still the bread and wine, is really no more so, 
but they are now "our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man!" 
Such is the explanation given in the fourth chapter of the 
same session. This holy Synod declares that by the conse- 
cration of the bread and wine, a change is made of the 
whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body 
of our Lord Christ, and of the whole substance of the wine 
into the substance of his blood. Which change is suitably 
and properly called by the holy Catholic Church, Transub- 
stantiation. 

And as the bread and wine have thus become God, in the 
estimation of Romanists, so the next chapter directs that the 
Sacrament be worshipped as the true God. "Nullus itaque 
dubitandi locus relinquitur, quin omnes Christi fideles pro mo- 
re in Catholica Ecclesia semper recepto latrise cultum, qui 
vero Deo debetur, huic sanctissimo Sacramento in veneratione 
exhibeant." There is therefore no room for doubt but that all 
Christ's faithful people, according to the custom always re- 
ceived in the Catholic Church, should, in veneration, offer to 
this most holy sacrament, the worship (latriae cultum) which 
is due to the true God. The council then goes on in the first 
and sixth canons to curse those who deny the doctrine of 
Transubstantiation, and hold the views of the protestants on 
the subject of the Lord's Supper, and those also who say that 
the worshippers of the Eucharist are idolaters. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



259 



As the church of Rome teaches that the elements of the 
Lord's Supper are really and substantially changed into the 
Divine Saviour, so she also teaches that this Sacrament is a 
sacrifice, — "sacrosanctum missse sacrificium," — the most ho- 
ly sacrifice of the Mass, — and that it is "propitiatorum 
pro vivis et defunctis," — a propitiation for the living and the 
dead ; and that it is the same victim that was offered on the 
cross, so those who, with due preparation come to it, (mass,) 
will obtain grace and the pardon of their sins : — "non solum 
pro fidelium vivorum peccatis, pcenis, satisfactionibus, et aliis 
necessitatibus, sed et pro defunctis in Christo nondum ad ple- 
num purgatis, rite, juxta apostolorum traditionem, offertur," — 
that not only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other 
necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those 
who, having died in Christ, are not yet fully purified, (in pur- 
gatory,) it (sacrifice of mass) is rightly, and according to the 
Apostles' tradition, offered. (Sess. xxiii. cap. 1, 2.) 

The doctrine of the mass is, therefore, that the elements, 
changed by consecration, are a real victim, the incarnate Sa- 
viour; that the officiating Priest offers the divine sacrifice; 
and that on the ground of this sacrifice or atonement, the par- 
don of sin and other benefits are obtained by the living and 
by the dead. That such a doctrine robs the Saviour of his 
glory and overturns the whole gospel system of salvation is 
most manifest. "Without shedding of blood" declares the 
Apostle, "is no remission" of sin. "By one offering he (the 
Lord Jesus Christ) hath perfected forever them that are sanc- 
tified." "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." 
Every reader of the word of God is aware that it abounds with 
similar testimonies. 

Purgatory. 

Purgatory, according to the Romish creed, is a certain place 
to which are sent the souls of those who die in venial sin, or 
whose sins have been remitted, but the punishment of them not 
satisfied. These souls are purified by the fire of Purgatory , 
and thus made meet for heaven, to which at last they all safe- 
ly arrive. 

"Purgatorium esse ;" declares the Council of Trent, (Sess. 
xxv.) "animasque ibi detentas, fidelium suffragiis, potissimum 
vero acceptabili altaris sacrificio juvari." There is a purga- 
tory ; and the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages 
(favors) of the faithful, but most of all by the acceptable sacri- 
fice of the altar (mass.) What these suffrages are we are 



260 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



taught in the latter part of the decree — "Missarum sacrificia, 
orationes, eleemosynae, aliaque pietatis opera, quse a fidelibus 
pro aliis fidelibus defunctis fieri consueverunt." Sacrifices 
of masses, prayers, alms, and other works of piety which 
are wont to be performed by the faithful, for other faithful 
deceased. 

The doctrine of Purgatory is most adroitly calculated to 
secure an irresistible influence over an ignorant and supersti- 
tious people. Only let it be believed that the soul is exqui- 
sitely tormented in a fire, from which the celebration of masses 
can deliver it, and the priest has at once a strong rein upon the 
necks of surviving relatives and friends, and a sure key to 
their pockets. Accordingly, masses for souls in Purgatory 
have always been a most gainful trade to the Church of Rome. 
It is not surprising, therefore, that the council commands that 
the existence of Purgatory be believed, held, taught, and eve- 
ry where preached, and curses those who deny the efficacy of 
mass in relieving souls there detained. 

Worship of the Virgin Mary, Saints, Reliques, 
Images, &c. 

Romanists are taught by their Church that the Virgin Ma- 
ry and other saints in heaven pray for the faithful on earth, 
and that these ought to pray to Mary and other deceased saints 
to intercede with God for them. "Sanctos, una cum Christo 
regnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus Deo offerre, bonum 
atque utile esse suppliciter eos invocare, et ob beneficia impe- 
tranda a Deo per filium ejus, Jesum Christum — ad eorum 
orationes, opem auxiliumque confugere." The holy Synod 
commands the Bishops and other instructors in the Church, — 
to teach the people "that the saints reigning together with 
Christ offer their prayers for men to God ; that it is good and 
useful suppliantly to pray to them ; and for obtaining benefits 
from God through his son Jesus Christ, to fly to their prayers, 
help, and assistance." — (Sess. xxv.) 

Having stated the doctrine of saint-worship, we will now 
subjoin two or three specimens of its fruits, — prayers addressed 
to saints. 

" Holy Mother of God, who hast worthily merited to con- 
ceive him whom the world could not comprehend; by thy 
pious intervention wash away our sins, that so, being redeemed 
by thee> we may be able to ascend to the seat of everlasting 
glory, &c." 

"O Martyr Christopher, — Confer comfort, and remove heav- 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



261 



ness of mind: and cause, that the examination of the Judge 
may be mild toward all." 

"O William, thou good Shepherd, — Cleanse us in our ago- 
ny; grant us aid; remove the filthiness of our life; and grant 
the joys of a celestial crown." 

"O ye eleven thousand glorious Maids, lilies of virginity, 
roses of martyrdom, defend me in life by affording to me your 
assistance : and show yourselves to me in death by bringing 
the last consolation." — (Collect, in Hor. ad usum sacrum, as 
quoted in Faber's Difficulties of Romanism, p. 191, 2.) 

On the subject of relique-worship, the council decrees as 
follows: "Sanctorum quoque Martyrum, et aliorum cum 
Christo viventium sancta corpora, quae viva membra fuerunt 
Christi, et templum Spiritus Sancti, ab ipso ad aeternam vitam 
suscitanda et glorificanda a fidelibus veneranda esse : per quae 
multa beneficia a Deohominibus praestantur: &c— (Sess.xxv.) 
The holy bodies of saints, also of martyrs, and of others living 
with Christ, which (bodies) have been living members of 
Christ, and the temple of the Holy Ghost, and which by him 
(Christ) are to be raised to eternal life and glorified ; — (these 
bodies) are to be venerated. 

What this religious veneration is, which the council here 
decrees to relics, we may learn from a late work on the doc- 
trines of the Catholic church, by the Bishop of Aire. "From 
God, as its source," says the Bishop, "the ivorship, with which 
we honor relics, originates ; and to God, as its end, it ultimate- 
ly and terminatively reverts." — (Discuss. Amic. Lett. XV. 
Faber's Diff. of Rom. p. 194.) But the worship which origi- 
nates from God, and reverts to him, must, if any species of re- 
ligious service is entitled to the distinction, be the most exalted 
worship — it is true and proper worship, that which, according 
to the scriptures, is due to God alone. 

The Worship of Images is enjoined in the following terms, 
"Imagines porro Christi, Deiparae Virginis, et aliorum sancto- 
rum, in templis praesertim habendas et retinendas, eisque de- 
bitum honorem et venerationem impartiendam," &c. (Sess. 
XXV.) Moreover, the Images of Christ, the God-bearing Vir- 
gin, and of other saints, are, in churches especially, to be had 
and retained, and due honor and veneration are to be given to 
them. That by this veneration, religious worship is really in- 
tended, is plain from what follows, — "honos, qui eis exhibetur, 
refertur ad prototypa, quae illae repraesentant," &.c. The honor 
which is shown to them (the images) is referred to the origin- 
als which these represent. In the case, then, of the image of 



262 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



Christ, the identical honor which is given to him, is shewn to 
the image ; but this is true and proper worship. The council 
apparently apprehensive, as well they might be, that they 
would be thought idolaters, thus endeavor, in anticipation, to 
escape the imputation, "non quod credatur inesse aliqua in iis 
divinitas vel virtus, propter quam sint colendae," &c. Not that 
it is believed there is any divinity in the images, or virtue, on 
account of which they are to be worshipped, &c; but the 
same reply was uniformly made by the ancient Pagan Ro- 
mans, and when charged with idolatry, for worshipping before 
the images of Jupiter, &c. and yet the apostle does not hesi- 
tate to speak of them as heathens. 

Indulgences. 

Bellarmine, the celebrated defender of the. Romish Church, 
tells us that indulgence is "remissionem poenarum, quae rema- 
nent luendse post remissionem culparum:" — (Bellar. De In- 
dulg. Lib. 1, ch. 1.) 

The remission of the punishments which remain to be satis- 
fied for, after the remission of faults. He who purchases an 
indulgence, procures thereby a remission of those purgatorial 
fires which otherwise he must suffer on account of his sins. — 
The sale of indulgences is a very extensive and gainful trade 
in Roman Catholic communities, and the effects of such a 
trade on the minds and manners of the people, cannot but be 
most deplorable. "That religion," says Dr. Johnson, a late 
traveller in Italy, "cannot offer very formidable checks to im- 
morality, or even crime, which hangs up 'Plenary Indulgence' 
on every chapel-door. He who can easily clear the board of 
his conscience on Sunday, has surely a strong temptation to 
begin chalking up a fresh score on Monday or Tuesday." It 
was the shocking consequences of an extraordinary sale of in- 
dulgences, that opened the eyes of Luther to the abominations 
of Romanism, and thus led to the Reformation. The very 
bonds of society seemed to be loosening and dissolving, and 
crimes of the most frightful character obtained license by the 
flood of indulgences that was pouring in upon the country. 

'Such indulgences were first invented in the eleventh centu- 
ry, by Urban II. as a recompense for those who went in per- 
son upon the glorious enterprise of conquering the Holy Land. 
They were afterwards granted to those who hired a soldier 
for that purpose ; and in process of time were bestowed on 
such as gave money for accomplishing any pious work enjoin- 
ed by the pope. The power of granting indulgences has been 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 263 

greatly abused in the Church of Rome. Pope Leo X., in or- 
der to carry on the magnificent structure of St. Peter's, at 
Rome, published indulgences, and a plenary remission to all 
such as should contribute money towards it. Finding the pro- 
ject take, he granted to Albert elector of Mentz, and arch- 
bishop of Magdeburg, the benefit of the indulgences of Sax- 
ony, and the neighboring parts, and farmed out those of other 
countries to the highest bidders : who, to make the best of the 
bargain, procured the ablest preachers to cry up the value of 
the ware. The form of these indulgences was as follows : — 
"May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and ab- 
solve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by 
his authority, that of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and 
of the most holy pope, granted and committed to me in these 
parts, do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in 
whatever manner they have been incurred ; then from all thy 
sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever they 
may be : even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of 
the holy see, and as far as the keys of the holy church extend. 
I remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory 
on their account : and I restore you to the holy sacraments of 
the church, to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence 
and purity which you possessed at baptism : so that when you 
die, the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the 
paradise of delight shall be opened; and if you shall not die at 
present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at 
the point of death. In the name of the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost." According to a book, called the Tax of the 
sacred Roman Chancery, in which are contained the exact 
sums to be levied for the pardon of each particular sin, we find 
some of the fees to be thus : 

"Robbing a church, 2 dollars 25 cents. Simony, 2 dollars 
25 cents. Perjury, forgery, and lying, 2 dollars. Robbery, 
3 dollars. Burning a house, 2 dollars 75 cents. Eating meat 
in Lent, 2 dollars 75 cents. Killing a layman, 1 dollar 75 
cents. Striking a Priest, 2 dollars 75 cents. Procuring abor- 
tion, 1 dollar 50 cents. Dead man excommunicated, 3 dollars. 
Priest to keep a concubine, 2 dollars 25 cents. * * * * 
Ravishing or deflowering a virgin, 2 dollars. Murder of fath- 
er, mother, sister, brother or wife, 2 dollars 50 cents. Nun 
for frequent fornication, in or out of the nunnery, 5 dollars. 
Marrying on a day forbidden, 10 dollars. All incest, rapes, 
adultery and fornication committed by a Priest, with his rela- 
tions, nuns, married women, virgins and his concubines, with 



264 



A SUMMARY OP THE 



the joint pardon of all his whores, at the same time, 10 dollars. 
Absolution of all crimes together, 12 dollars." 

"The terms in which the retailers of indulgences described 
their benefits, and the necessity of purchasing them, were so 
extravagant that they appear almost incredible. If any man, 
said they, purchase letters of indulgence, his soul may rest 
secure with respect to its salvation. The souls confined in 
purgatory, for whose redemption indulgences are purchased, 
as soon as the money tinkles in the chest, instantly escape 
from that place of torment, and ascend into heaven. That the 
efficacy of indulgences was so great, that the most heinous 
sins, even if one should violate (which was impossible) the 
Mother of God, would be remitted and expiated by them, and 
the person be freed both from punishment and guilt. That this 
was the unspeakable gift of God, in order to reconcile man to 
himself. That the cross erected by the preachers of indul- 
gences was equally efficacious with the cross of Christ itself." 
"Lo," said they, "the heavens are open : if you enter not now, 
when will you enter ? For twelve pence you may redeem the 
soul of your father out of purgatory ; and are you so ungrateful 
that you will not rescue the soul of your parent from torment? 
If you had but one coat, you ought to strip yourself instantly, 
and sell it, in order to purchase such benefit," &c. 

Since that time the popes have been more sparing in the 
exercise of this power; although it is said, they still carry on a 
great trade with them to the Indies, where they are purchased 
at two rials a piece, and sometimes more. We are told also 
that a gentleman not long since being at Naples, in order that 
he might be fully ascertained respecting indulgences, went to 
the office, and for two sequins purchased a plenary remission 
of all sins for himself and any two other persons of his friends 
or relations, whose names he was empowered to insert. — 
[Haweis's Church Hist. vol. iii. p. 147; Smith's Errors of the 
Church of Rome; WatsorCs Theol. Tracts, vol. v. p. 274* Mo- 
8heim?s Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 594, quarto.] 

Infallibility. 

The church of Rome claims to be infallible. In conse- 
quence of this attribute, she decides what is, and what is not 
scripture, and what the scriptures teach ; she asserts the right 
also, to prescribe for faith and practice as necessary for salva- 
tion, other things than those contained in the scriptures ; and 
all men are bound implicitly, to submit to her decision. Ro- 
manists, however, differ very much among themselves about 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 265 

about the seat of this tremendous power ; some assert that it is 
in the Pope, others, that it is in a general Council, and others 
again, in the Pope and Council combined. This very doubt 
concerning the place of its existence, shews that the preten- 
sion itself is unfounded and ridiculous. For what is the use 
of infallibility, if none can with certainty, discover where it 
is, and by whom it is exercised? 

But this is not all, the claim of infallibility is most blasphe- 
mous presumption. God alone is infallible, — his word alone 
cannot err, — in that are all things necessary to salvation, and 
to him alone ought we implicitly to submit. The man, or 
church, who claim to themselves infallibility, usurp the place 
of God, and exhibit the very character of Antichrist, "who op- 
posethand exalteth himself" says the apostle, "above all that 
is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth 
in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" It 
were easy to swell out this article, so as to fill large volumes, 
with the account of the gross errors, oppressions, and enormi- 
ties which have proceeded from infallible Popes, and an infal- 
lible church. It was by an almost universal acknowledgment 
of this impious claim to infallibility, that the spiritual despot- 
ism of the dark ages was maintained. Individuals and nations 
were stript of almost every civil and religious right, and tram- 
pled in the dust, beneath the feet of the Romish Hierarchy. 
The evils at last became intolerable, men almost every where 
endeavored to burst the yoke : the glorious reformation follow- 
ed, and multitudes obtained the blessings of freedom. This 
liberty, purchased by the labors, and tears, and blood of thou- 
sands, it is ours to maintain against the claims of infallible 
"Mother Church." 

As the church of Rome asserts her infallibility, she can 
never change; what she has once declared to be truth, must 
ever remain so — else what becomes of her infallibility ? Such 
a claim then, it is manifest, makes all attempts to reform the 
Romish system of religion utterly hopeless. Being infallibly 
right in all its essential principles, it never can be altered. — 
There is no such thing, therefore, as getting rid of the evils 
of such a system, but by altogether abandoning it. They who 
would escape her plagues, must, in the language of God's 
word, come out of her. 

We will present to our readers but one specimen of the 
fruits of infallibility — but one, because that will be sufficient 
to shew the character of the tree. By the third Council of 
Lateran, the obligation to destroy heretics was imposed upon 
Z 



266 



A SUMMARY OP THE 



the faithful ; and by the same council, it was declared that all 
oaths, which are against ecclesiastical utility, become, ipso 
facto, null and void. "Non enim dicenda sunt juramenta, sed 
potius perjuria, quae contra utilitatem ecclesiasticam et sancto- 
rum patrum veniunt instituta." Consequently, John Huss was 
burnt, though he had received a safe-conduct from the Empe- 
ror Sigismund. The church authorities decided that the oath 
of the Emperor was "contra ecclesiasticam utilitatem," and 
therefore, he was bound to break it, and burn to death the man 
whom he had sworn to protect. — (Faber's Diff. of Romanism, 
page 49/.) 

Here then, the point is settled, — Roman Catholics, notwith- 
standing all oaths to the contrary, are bound to destroy all her- 
etics, whenever their church requires it, and they have it in 
their power. To deny the obligation to do this, would be a 
denial of the infallibility of the Church. 

Dr. James Johnson, a late traveller in Italy, gives a most 
melancholy and disgusting view of its religion and morality. 
After a short quotation upon these subjects, we will close the 
present head with an extract from his book, giving an account 
of one of the most imposing ceremonies, in honor of " Infalli- 
bility personified." 

u The fundamental objects of every religion, I imagine to be 
these — first, to foster the good and check the evil propensities 
of man's nature in this world ; and, secondly, to procure him 
immortality and happiness in the next. How far the Catho- 
lic system of faith and worship, as professed and practised on 
the Classic soil of Italy, is calculated to secure the salvation of 
the soul, I will not venture to judge, for the reason above men- 
tioned. But I deem it not out of my province to form some 
estimate of its influence over virtue and vice, and of its tend- 
dency to good or evil actions in the common affairs of life. 

u I humbly conceive, that there are two radical defects in the 
Catholic religion, as practised in Italy : first, the facility of ab 
solution, before alluded to; secondly, the perpetual interven 
tion of saints and angels between the human heart, whether in 
a state of contrition or adoration, and the throne of our Crea- 
tor. I need not repeat that I have already said, as to the bale- 
ful effects of cheap and easy remission of sins, through the me- 
dium of heartless ceremonies, if not virtual bribery. It is now 
pretty well ascertained, that in proportion as the duty on con- 
traband articles is diminished, the consumption will in- 
crease, so as that the revenue loses nothing by relaxation 
of its demands. I believe the same maxim will hold good as 



ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. 



267 



to moral articles of contraband, especially where no worldly 
dishonor attaches to breach of law. It is impossible to view 
the facilities with which sins are washed away in Italy, (not to 
speak of the permission to commit them,) without coming to the 
conclusion that one of the most effectual checks to vice, which 
religion affords, is thus rendered not only inefficient, but abso- 
lutely conducive to the evil which it is intended to remedy. 

Forsyth, while speaking of certain scenes which took place 
at Naples, during a memorable epoch still fresh in the recol- 
lections of the present race, has the following passage : 

" They reeled ferociously from party to party, from saint to 
saint, and were steady to nothing but mischief and the church. 

" Those Cannibals, feasting at their fires on human carnage, 
would kneel down and beat their breasts in the fervor of devo- 
tion, whenever the sacring bell went past to the sick ; and some 
of Ruffo's cut-throats would never mount their horses without 
crossing themselves and muttering a prayer." 

The perpetual intercession of saints and angels, not to speak 
of priests and relics of the dead, in pardoning sins and saving 
souls, must inevitably diminish, if not destroy that awful solem- 
nity which ought to attend a direct appeal from man to his 
Maker. 

In respect to the pompous formalities, the georgeous image- 
ry, the superstitious rites, the solemn mockeries, and the sick- 
ening delusions of Italian worship, whatever influence they 
may have on people immersed in ignorance, and trammeled 
by priestcraft — they can have but one of two effects upon 
Englishmen — that of turning the Romish religion into ridicule, 
in strong minds ; or that of overpowering and converting minds 

that are weak! 

** ****** 

The Chapel of the Quirinal on Sunday mornings, is at last 
filled to suffocation. The tribunes on either side are occupied 
by the elegantes of London and Paris, Petersburg and Vienna, 
Cracow or New York. In the central nave the throng is com- 
posed of abbots, priors, and dignitaries in grand costume, — the 
Mamelukes of the church! Roman generals, all armed for the 
military service of the altar, the only service they have ever 
seen — monks, guards, friars, Swiss soldiers, and officers of 
state ! Outside a cordon drawn round the choir, are placed the 
foreign gentlemen. The choir, the scene of action, all brilliant 
and beautiful, is still a void. When the signal is given, the 
crowd divides ! and the procession begins ! — Mutes and others 
form the avantgarde of the pageant, and lead the way. Then 



268 



A SUMMARY OF THE 



comes, personified Infallibility ! feeble as womanhood ! help- 
less as infancy! withered by infirmity; but borne aloft, like 
some idol of pagan worship, on the necks of men, above all hu- 
man contact. The conclave follows, each of its princes robed 
like an Eastern Sultan ! Habits of silk and brocade, glittering 
with gold and silver, succeeded by robes of velvet, and vest- 
ments of point lace, the envy of reigning empresses. The toi- 
lette of these Church exquisites is perfect : not a hair displa- 
ced, not a point neglected, from the powdered toupee to the 
diamond shoe-buckle. The Pope is at last deposited on his 
golden throne : his ecclesiastical attendants fold round him his 
ample caftain, white and brilliant as the nuptial dress of bridal 
queens! they arrange his dazzling mitre; they bloiv his nose; 
they wipe his mouth, and exhibit the representation of Divinity 
in all the disgusting helplessness of drivelling caducity. His 
Holiness being thus cradled on a throne, to which Emperors 
once knelt, the Conservators of Rome, the caryatides of the 
Church, place themselves meekly at his steps, and the manikin, 
who represents the Roman senate, precisely in his look and 
dress resembling Brid'oison, in the " Marriage de Figaro" 
takes his humble station near the Imperial seat, more georgeous 
than any the Csesars ever mounted. Meantime, the demigods 
of the conclave repose their eminences in their stalls, on velvet 
cushions, and their caudatorj (or tail-bearers) place themselves 
at their feet. In the centre, stand or sit, on the steps of the 
high altar, the bishops with their superb vestments. Then the 
choir raises the high hosannas ; the Pope pontificates ; and the 
Temple of Jupiter never witnessed rites so imposing, or so 
splendid. Golden censors fling their odors on the air! har- 
mony the most perfect, and movements the most gracious, de- 
light the ear and eye ! At the elevation of the host, a silence 
more oppressive than even this solemn ' concord of sweet 
sounds' succeeds; all fall prostrate to the earth; and the mil- 
itary falling still lower than all, lay their arms of destruction 
at the feet of that mystery operated in memory of the salva- 
tion of mankind. 

i The ceremony is at last concluded. The procession re» 
turns as it entered. The congregation rush after: and the next 
moment, the anti-room of this religious temple resembles the 
saloon of the opera. The abbots and priors mingle among the 
lay crowd, and the cardinals chat with pretty women, sport 
their red stockings, and ask their opinions of the Pope's Pon- 
tification, as a Mervillieux of the Opera at Paris, takes snuff, 
and demands of his Chere Belle, i Comment trouvez vous ca 



ROMAN C A.THOLIC FAITH. 



269 



Comtesse?' 1 Bows, and courtesies, and recognitions — 'nods, 
and becks, and wreathed smiles'' — fill up the waiting time for 
carriages ; and then all depart from the Quirinal, to re-congre- 
gate at St. Peter's to hear vespers, give rendezvous, and make 
parties for the opera." 

Power of the Priest to Forgive Sins. 

The doctrine of the Church of Rome on this point, is fully 
and clearly expressed by the council of Trent, in its fourteenth 
session, chap. 6. The Holy Synod " teaches also, that even 
priests, who are held in mortal sin, do exercise, by virtue of 
the Holy Ghost, conferred in ordination, as Christ's ministers, 
the function of remitting sins; and that they think ill who con- 
tend there is not this power in wicked Priests. And though 
the Priest's Absolution is the dispensation of another's benefit ; 
nevertheless, it is not a naked ministry alone, either of an- 
nouncing the gospel, or of declaring that sins are forgiven; 
but after the likeness of a judicial act, in which by himself, 
as by a judge, sentence is pronounced." 

In the ninth and tenth canons of this Session, those persons 
are, as usual, cursed, who deny the above doctrine of priestly 
absolution, and that even wicked priests have the power of re- 
mitting sins. 

Impossibility of Salvation out of the Romish Church. 
This point is a necessary consequence of infallibility, and 
of those anathemas with which its decrees are guarded. If 
the Church of Rome is infallible, and has decided that her doc- 
trine and sacraments are necessary to salvation — it follows 
that they who do not receive them must perish. Accordingly, 
in the " Summary, &c." above given, the candidate swears 
that he will hold to the last breath of his life " this true Catho- 
lic faith," (i. e. the faith declared by the council of Trent) — 
" out of which no one can have salvation." 

Our readers cannot but have perceived, in examining the 
foregoing extracts from Roman Catholic authorities, that the 
Church, among professors of this faith, is the all in all ; — it is 
the Church that is to be believed, and to be implicitly submit- 
ted to : whatever she has declared is infallibly and immutably 
true. We must receive the scriptures on her authority, and 
hold them on all points as she is pleased to interpret them.' — 
Now what is this but to put the church in the place of God? and 
to bow down in idolatrous homage to human authority ? A mul- 
titude of important reflections here crowd upon the mind, only 
z2 



270 



A SUMMARY OF THE, &C. 



one, however, will our limits permit us to suggest. It is the 
utter hopelessness of all attempts to reform the church of Rome 
in any essential manner. As well, in the view of a conscien- 
tious Romanist, might we endeavor to change the eternal 
truth of God. That which is infallibly right it would be impi- 
ous to alter, or even to indulge the wish that it were other- 
wise. " The principles of the Catholic Church," says the 
Bishop of Aire, " are irrevocable. She herself is immutably 
chained by bonds, which, at no future period, can she ever rend 
asunder."* To reform such a church, it is manifest, would be 
to destroy it. To those in this church, therefore, who have 
determined to make the Word of God, the holy scriptures, the 
supreme rule of their faith and life, a good conscience must 
compel to " come out of her." 



* Faber's Diff. of Romanism, p. 283. 




LETTERS FROM ROME. 



The following Letters, dated at Rome, and written by a 
Physician, travelling in Italy for his health, to a brother in 
this country, contain many remarkable facts in reference to 
Romish doctrine and practice. 

"Rome, , 16 — . 

"Dear Charles, — I am at ength in Rome, and of all the pla- 
ces that I have yet seen, this is the most delightful. Where we 
have indulged in high anticipations, you know it is not often 
we find them more than realized, but mine were in this case. 

u Every thing which had particularly excited my admira- 
tion in my travels in the various cities through which I passed, 
awaited me at Rome in still greater perfection. I had always 
ardently desired to view the very place and scene of those im- 
portant events with which history had furnished me entertain- 
ment and instruction from my youngest years. I had promis- 
ed myself great pleasure in beholding the genuine remains 
of Pagan Rome — in visiting the sepulchres of her sages and 
heroes, and in searching out the place where each had lived, 
and walked, and held his disputations — in viewing the relics 
of her noble, ancient architecture — her temples — her sculp- 
ture — her genius and taste ; and though I expected to discover 
little comparatively, of old Rome, yet the bare view of the 
place where old Rome stood and her few noble remains I fan- 
cied would be sufficient to assist my imagination in portraying 
the rest. As for her religion, Popery, though I knew some of 
its superstitions, I knew comparatively little, and intended to 
lose no time in noticing its ridiculous ceremonies, but to devote 
myself to searching out her antiquities. But my first impres- 
sions were such, that I soon found myself regarding the Ro- 
mish worship with particular scrutiny. 

u I find Popery, as it is exercised in Italy, so nearly resem- 
bling the Paganism of old Rome, that, while witnessing her 
religious ceremonies, I am continually reminded of some pas- 
sage in a classic author where a similar ceremony was per- 
formed in the same form and manner, and in the same place. 
I can scarcely refrain from fancying myself a spectator of 

271 



272 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



some solemn act of ancient idolatry, rather than witnessing an 
act of religious worship under the title of Christianity. The 
first time I entered a church here, the smoke and smell of in- 
cense streaming from its numerous altars, transported me at 
once to the description of Paphian Venus, in the first ^Eneid — 

" Her hundred altars there with garlands crown'd, 
And richest incense smoking, breathed around; 
Sweet odors" &c. 

And when I saw the little boy in surplice in the church of 
Rome, waiting upon the Priest at the altar with the vessel of 
incense and other sacred utensils, how could I but be reminded 
of a heathen sacrifice ? 

u Nobody ever goes in or out of a church here without being 
sprinkled with holy water, by the priest who attends for that 
purpose, or else he serves himself with it, from a vessel plac- 
ed inside the door resembling our baptismal fonts. Now this 
custom is strictly derived from a heathen practice." 

" I was present at one solemnity which was entirely novel 
to me. I never saw any notice of any thing similar to it in 
heathen worship, and conclude it to be an extravagance re- 
served for Popery alone. It is a yearly festival, celebrated 
in January, to which I allude, called the 'benediction of 
horses .' " 

u It was commemorated with great solemnity. All the in- 
habitants of the city and neighborhood sent up their horses, 
asses, and other cattle to the convent of St. Anthony, where a 
priest in surplice sprinkles all the animals separately, with his 
brush as they were presented to him; saying in Latin — 
( Through the intercession of the Blessed Anthony Abate, 
these animals are freed from all evils, in the name of the Fa- 
ther, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost — Amen.' He receiv- 
ed in return, a fee proportioned to the ability of the owner." 

" I was amazed at such a display of lamps and wax-candles 
as I find constantly burning before the shrines and images of 
their saints, Many of these lamps are of massy silver; some, 
even of gold, the gifts of princes and other distinguished per- 
sonages. The number of offerings, too, presented in conse- 
quence of vows made in time of danger, and in gratitude for 
deliverance, and cures, hanging up in the churches, is so great 
as really to be quite offensive, and obstruct the sight of some- 
thing more valuable and ornamental. These offerings consist 
in a great measure of arms and legs, and little figures of wood 
or wax, and sometimes fine pictures describing the manner 
of the deliverance, obtained by the miraculous interposition 



LETTERS PROM ROME. 



273 



of the saint invoked, &c. As I was examining these various 
offerings, I could not but recollect an anecdote told by Cicero, 
of one, who, having found an atheistical friend in a temple, 
said, 6 You, who think the gods take no notice of human affairs, 
do you not see here by this number of pictures, how many 
people for the sake of their vows have been saved in storms 
at sea, and got safe into harbor?' 4 Yes,' says the atheist, ( I 
see how it is; for those are never painted, who happen to be 
droivned? 

" They pretend to show here at Rome, two original impres- 
sions of our Saviour's face on two different pocket handker- 
chiefs — one, it is said, was presented by himself to Agbarus, 
Prince of Edessa, and the other to a holy woman, named Ver- 
onica, at the time of his execution, (the handkerchief she lent 
him to wipe his face on that occasion.) One of these is pre- 
served in St. Sylvester's church ; the second in St. Peter's. 

"I could tell you many more of the absurdities and supersti- 
tions of the Romish church, but time prevents now. I shall 
write you again soon ; will then mention more facts, which I 
know to be true, and give you a faithful description of what I 
have seen with my own eyes in this Babylon, this city of abom- 
inations. 

"You will be surprised at receiving so minute a statement 
of things relative to religious matters, and so few on other 
subjects, but I know Rome's state, in a moral view, will possess 
more interest for you, than aught else of her I could name. 
"I must close — 

"Yours, my brother in Christian love and affection, 
"Henry Sturtevant." 



" Rome, . 

"My dear brother, — I received your welcome letter last 
evening, and most cheerfully devote these, my first leisure 
moments since, to gratify the wish you expressed to be more 
particularly informed of some of the religious ceremonies of 
the Romish church. My curiosity has led me oftentimes to 
be a witness of various solemnities, and I will strive to detail 
the observations I made, and the information I have gained, 
with as much particularity as my time will allow. 

"Soon after I despatched my last letter to you, I spent two 
or three days in visiting the several churches and noticing 
particularly every thing connected with Romish worship 



274 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



which caught my eye. Some of the numerous paintings which 
adorn the altars I examined — they were very beautiful ; indeed 
I never saw any, that could compare with them for beauty of 
execution. I became less surprised, as I gazed at them with 
admiration myself, at the reverence, solemnity and enthusias- 
tic admiration with which they inspired those who had receiv- 
ed from nature an eye to observe, and a heart to feel keenly 
the beauties of this art — especially when I considered the ig- 
norance and superstition of Papal worship which had shrouded 
them from infancy, and led them to mistake these natural 
sensibilities of a discriminating taste for true devotion and 
holy love to the being whom they represented. 

"The pomp and glory of the worship of this church is won- 
derfully calculated to awe and amuse the minds of a supersti- 
tious people. The costly paintings — the images of saints, en- 
riched with gold and pearl — the costly habits of the officiating 
priests — the choice vocal and instrumental music — the public 
processions and parades — in short, every thing combines, by 
its magnificence, to win the attention and confidence of an un- 
thinking people. 

"But I am more and more astonished at the gross frauds, 
practised in connection with supposed relics, and the credulity 
of people in regard to them. Among other relics which they 
pretend to show here, are the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
encased in silver busts, set with jewels — a lock of the Virgin 
Mary^s hair — a phial of her tears — a piece of her green pet- 
ticoat — a robe of Jesus Christ, sprinkled with his blood — some 
drops of his blood in a bottle — and some of the water which 
flowed out of the wound in his side — the nails used in the cru- 
cifixion — and a piece of the very same porphyry pillar on 
which the cock perched when he crowed after Peter's denial of 
Christ — the rods of Moses and Aaron — and two pieces of the 
wood of the real ark of the covenant. Many of the churches 
are most abundantly supplied with relics of a similar charac- 
ter — there is one in Spain, I understand, which possesses eleven 
thousand, among which are several of our Saviour; a sacred 
hair of his most holy head is preserved in a vase — several 
pieces of his cross — thirteen thorns of his crown — and apiece 
of the manger in which he was born. There are many relics 
also of the Virgin Mary — three or four pieces of one of her 
garments — and a relic of the handkerchief with which sJie 
wiped her eyes at the foot of the cross, S$c. But enough of this. 

"It would be a vain attempt, were I to undertake to tell you 
the number of saints and angels who share in the devotions 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



275 



of this superstitious people ; indeed they are countless. And 
as every Pope takes the liberty of introducing one or several 
into the calendar of saints during his Pontificate, we need not 
wonder at the man who said on visiting one of these Papal 
cities, 'it was easier to find a god, than a man in it.'' 

"But I am perfectly amazed at the extravagant honors and 
blasphemous adoration paid the Virgin Mary. They have in 
fact highly exalted her, and given her a name above every 
name — I doubt whether their worship (even nominal) of the 
blessed Saviour exceeds that of the Virgin. 

"Churches and chapels are consecrated to her service — five 
solemn festivals are annually paid to her honor, besides one 
day in every week set apart as especially for her worship as 
Saturday is for the Son. There are also seven hours in each 
day, called the seven canonical hours, which her most indus- 
trious worshippers devote to her service. 

"From childhood, the Roman Catholic is taught to cherish 
for her the most profound reverence and the strongest affec- 
tion. He addresses his prayers to her as being the 'queen of 
heaven' and 'the mother of God' — as 'being all-powerful to ob- 
tain from God by her intercessions all she shall ask of him. 7 
A Catholic school-book inculcates this sentiment : 'Being mo- 
ther of God, he cannot refuse her request; being our mother, 
she cannot deny our intercession when we have recourse to 
her — our necessities urge her — the prayers we offer her for 
our salvation bring us all that we desire — never any person 
invoked the mother of mercies in his necessities, who has not 
been sensible of the effects of her assistance. Among the 
reasons given why we should apply to the Virgin for salvation 
rather than to Christ, I have heard these two named — that 
'she being a woman is more tender-hearted? — and 'being a. real 
mother is therefore indulgent? Such petitions as these follow- 
ing are addressed to her in the devotions of her worshippers : 
'Succor the miserable,' 'help the faint-hearted,' 'comfort the 
afflicted,' 'loosen the sinner's bands,' 'bring light unto the 
blind,' 'our lusts and passions quell,' 'preserve our lives un- 
stained,' 'guard us,' 'deliver us from all dangers,' 'lead us to 
life everlasting,' and innumerable others of similar import. 

"Now, to whom, my dear brother, but a Power possessing 
all the attributes claimed by Divinity itself, should we think 
mortal man would address such service ? and yet after all this, 
and in the midst of all this, they affirm that they worship 'the 
one only and true God,' and that 'Him alone they serve.' 
"I find in the conclusion of the Biblia Marias, the Bible of 



276 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



the Virgin Mary, (for you must know she has one composed 
and provided for her especial service,) a prayer of this sort : — 
'Oh Queen of mercy, grace and glory! Empress of all the 
creatures, blot out all my transgressions, and lead me to life 
everlasting !' 

"I have been told, that, in a procession made here a few 
years ago, the following inscription was placed over the gate 
of one of the principal churches : 

" 'The Gate of celestial benefit. The Gate of salvation. 
Look up to the Virgin herself. Whosoever shall find me will 
find life, and draw salvation from the Lord. For there is no 
one who can be delivered from evils but through thee — there 
is no one from whom we can obtain mercy but through thee.' 

"I will just add a part of the litany of 'Lady of Loretto,' to 
show you the extent of their extravagant and blasphemous 
adoration : 



"'Holy Mary. 
Holy Mother of God. 
Holy Virgin of Virgins. 
Mother of Christ. 
Mother of divine grace. 
Mother most pure. 
Mother most chaste. 
Mother undefiled. 
Mother untouched. 
Mother most amiable. 
Mother most admirable. 
Mother of our Creator. 
Mother of our Redeemer. 
Virgin most prudent. 
Virgin most venerable. 
Virgin most renowned. 
Virgin most powerful. 
Virgin most merciful. 
Virgin most faithful. 
Mirror ofjustice. 
Seat of Wisdom. 
Cause of our joy. 



Spiritual vessel. 
Vessel of honor. 
Vessel of singular devotion. 
Mystical rose. 
Tower of David. 
Tower of Ivory. 
House of Gold. 
Ark of the covenant. 
Gate of Heaven. 
Morning Star. 
Health of the weak. 
Refuge of sinners. 
Comfort of the afflicted. 
Help of Christians. 
Queen of angels. 
Queen of Patriarchs. 
Queen of prOphets. 
Queen of apostles. 
Queen of martyrs. 
Queen of confessors. 
Queen of virgins. 
^ Queen of all saints.' 



"She wears a golden crown, set with precious stones of in- 
estimable value — her fingers glisten with rings, and her neck 
is tastefully adorned with several chains of gold, to which 
medals and hearts of gold are appended, presents from devout 
Catholic princes. She has changes of clothes for all work-days, 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



277 



holidays and Sundays, of all colors, and even a suit of mourn- 
ing for passion-week!! 

"I have not time to say more of the idolatrous worship paid 
the Virgin Mary— yet I have given you scarce an idea of its 
extent; were I to tell you half the extravagancies I have seen 
and heard, you would believe I had made shipwreck of the 
credit for truth which I used to have, and would be incredulous 
of all I have yet to say on other points — but this much I must 
affirm: the half has not been told. 

"I must describe to you, my dear brother, some of the fa- 
mous miracles performed by the saints, images, relics, &c. 
They are really wonderful. No saint, it seems, can be admit- 
ted into the calendar, whatever may have been the sanctity of 
his life, unless it can be testified that he has wrought miracles. 

"The tales of visions, apparitions, and miracles which are 
kept in circulation, and which are, in fact, necessary to uphold 
such a system of spiritual tyranny as the Popish religion is, 
among a superstitious and ignorant people are so absurd and 
monstrous, it would seem scarcely possible they should gain 
any credence at all. 

"In several parts of Italy are shown the marks of hands and 
feet on rocks and stones, miraculously effected by the appari- 
tions of some of their saints. Several images have been point- 
ed out to me since I have been in Rome, which on certain oc- 
casions have spoken — wept — sweat and bled. One of the ima- 
ges of our Saviour, it was seriously averred, wept so profusely 
before the sacking of Rome, as to employ all the good fathers 
in the monastery in wiping its face. 

"What is most wonderful of this picture is, that the Virgin 
Mary herself, attended by Mary Magdalen and St. Catherine, 
condescended to come down from heaven three or four centu- 
ries ago, to bring and introduce it to the special notice of pa- 
pists. We must infer, as the picture itself came down from 
heaven, that it is imposed on the people as the workmanship 
either of the Virgin Mary, some of the angels or saints, or of 
God himself ! ! How shocking — outrageous ! 

"Of Thomas a Becket, perhaps as many miracles are re- 
corded as of any saint. It is said, 'he outdid Christ himself in 
this particular.' Two volumes of them were preserved in 
Canterbury, where his shrine flourished, and a book has been 
published in France, containing an account of two hundred and 
seventy. It is remarkable that he works no miracles in Eng- 
land where his bones are deposited, but works abundantly in 
other countries. 

2A 



278 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



"St. Francis Xavier turned a sufficient quantity of salt water 
into fresh to save the lives of five hundred travellers, who 
were dying of thirst, enough being left to allow a large expor- 
tation to different parts of the world, where it performed aston- 
ishing cures. St. Raymond de Pennafort laid his cloak on the 
sea, and sailed thereon from Majorca to Barcelona, a distance 
of a hundred and sixty miles, in six hours. 

"At Mantua, I am told, there may be seen a bottle of the 
real blood of Christ. It was dug up a number of years since, 
in a box containing a paper with an account of the circum- 
stances of its deposit. It seems one Longinus, a Roman cen- 
turion, who was present at the crucifixion of Christ, became 
converted and afterwards left Judea for Mantua, carrying with 
him this phial of blood ; he buried the sacred relic, and was so 
thoughtful as to enclose it in an envelope, stating all these 
facts. It is very remarkable that the writing, the box, the bot- 
tle, the blood and all should be perfectly fresh as it was when 
found, after lying in the ground sixteen centuries ! ! ! 

"A certain friar had preached a sermon during lent, upon 
the state of the man mentioned in Scripture possessed with 
seven devils, with so much eloquence and unction, that a sim- 
ple countryman who heard him, went home, and became con- 
vinced that these seven devils had got possession of him. The 
idea haunted his mind, and subjected him to the most dreadful 
terrors, till, unable to bear his suffering, he unbosomed him- 
self to his ghostly father and asked his counsel. The father, 
who had some smattering of science, bethought himself at last 
of a way to rid the honest man of his devils, He told him it 
would be necessary to combat with the devils singly ; and on 
the day appointed, when the poor man came with a sum of 
money to serve as a bait for the devil — without which, the good 
father had forewarned him no devil could be dislodged — he 
bound a chain, connected with an electrical machine in an 
adjoining chamber, round his body, lest, as he said, the devil 
should fly away with him — and having warned him that the 
shock would be terrible when the devil went out of him, he 
left him praying devoutly before an image of the Madonna, 
and after some time gave him a pretty smart shock, at which 
the poor wretch fell insensible on the floor from terror. As 
soon, however, as he recovered, he protested that he had seen 
the devil fly away out of his mouth, breathing blue flames and 
sulphur, and that he felt himself greatly relieved. Seven elec- 
trical shocks, at due intervals, having extracted seven sums 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



279 



of money from him, together with the seven devils, the man 
was cured, and a great miracle performed!" 



Rome, Monday eve, . 

"You will see from the above date, my dear brother, that 
this letter has lain untouched several days. I have been so 
completely engaged in the continued round of ceremonies, 
which engross the hearts and time of this people during the 
'holy week' as to leave me no leisure to finish the accounts I 
had already begun. Rome is filled with pilgrims, and all the 
churches with worshippers — devout ones — save here and there 
a heretic, whose curiosity, like mine, has led him to mingle 
with the crowd, and follow the footsteps of the multitude 
through the endless absurdities, which tread hard on the heels 
of each other. 

"Processions of penitents are seen silently wending their 
way along the streets, clothed in long dark robes, preceded by 
a black cross, and bearing in their hands skulls, and bones, and 
contribution-boxes for souls in purgatory. 

"A most superb procession took place on the morning of the 
festa of the annunciation, which I, with thousands of others, 
ran to see. 

"The Pope, riding on a white mule, (I suppose to imitate 
our Saviour's entry at Jerusalem,) came attended by his horse- 
guards who rode before to clear the way, mounted on prancing 
black horses and accompanied by such a flourish of trumpets 
and kettle-drums as to wear far more of the appearance of a 
martial parade than of a religious proceeding. All were 
dressed in splendid full uniform, and in every cap waved a 
myrtle sprig, the sign of rejoicing. The cardinals followed; 
and the rear was brought up by a bare-headed priest on a mule, 
with the host in a golden cup, the sight of which operated like 
a talisman on every soul around me, (for every knee bent,) 
save here and there one, who like myself stood heretically 
amid the kneeling mass, looking about panic-struck at this ma- 
gic-like movement. 

"The Pope himself was clothed in robes of white and silver, 
and as he passed along the crowds of gazing people that lined 
the streets and filled the windows, he forgot not incessantly to 
repeat his benediction — a twirl of three fingers, typical of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — the little finger representing 
the latter. 



280 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



"Many tiresome ceremonies followed his entry into the 
church. He was seated on his throne ; all the cardinals suc- 
cessively approached — kissed his hand — retired a step or two 
— gave three low nods — one to him in front, as personifying 
God, the Father, one to the right, intended for the Son; and 
one to the left for the Holy Ghost. 

"I am sure, my dear brother, as this ceremony passed, the 
blood curdled in my veins — I was transfixed to the spot. I saw 
not what passed without me, but this text of holy writ stood 
like letters of fire, glaring upon me from within : — 

" 'Who, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing him- 
self that he is God.'' 

"When the first shock of this blasphemy had passed away, 
the inferior priests were bowing, each in their turn, and in 
adoring attitude kissing the toe, as it is called, which is in fact, 
the embroidered cross on the shoe of this lord of lords. High 
mass then began ; during the elevation of the host, the Pope 
knelt before the high altar and in silence prayed — then follow- 
ed an infinitude of gettings up and sittings down — of sayings 
and dead pauses, which I am sure those around me did not 
half comprehend; and of which I could — nothing. 

"A lighted taper was then brought, (though it was broad 
daylight,) and held for the Pope, while he read something, I 
know not what, from a great volume before him, and after sev- 
eral other ceremonies, as comprehensible and edifying as those 
I have named, he rose and retired, twirling his benediction all 
the way out, as he twirled it all the way in. After this I had 
little running to do, till palm Sunday came. You know I 
am far-famed as a punctual man — and a full hour I had been 
seated in the gaze of expectation, waiting the Pope's appear- 
ance in the chapel, when he came. He was clothed this time 
in scarlet and gold, and a most sumptuous figure he made. 
The Cardinals were dressed in their mourning robes, of a vio- 
let color, richly trimmed with antique lace, with mantles of 
ermine and scarlet trains — but these were soon changed for 
garments of gold. The same round of ceremonies toward the 
Pope was performed as I related on the festa of the annuncia- 
tion. Two palm branches received the Pope's benediction, 
after having passed through a cloud of incense. Smaller ones, 
artificial, composed of plaited straw or dried reed leaves, to 
which crosses were appended, were presented to each cardi- 
nal, archbishop, and to all the inferior orders of the clergy, to 
deacons, canons, choristers, cardinals' trainbearers, &x. as 
they individually descended the steps of the throne after per- 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



281 



forming the ceremonious routine I have mentioned before. 
The procession then began to move off, two and two, begin- > 
ning with the lowest clerical rank, and at last the Pope 
himself in his chair of state, under a crimson canopy and borne 
on the shoulders of four men. Great pomp and splendor mark- 
ed this parade. The crowns and mitres of the bishops and 
patriarchs, white and crimson, glittering with jewels, and set 
with precious stones — their long, rich dresses — the slow and 
uniform march of the procession, and the gay crowds surround- 
ing, presented quite an imposing appearance. The procession 
issued forth into the hall in the rear of the chapel, and march- 
ing round it, entered again and seated themselves as before. 
A multitude of tedious services then followed — with frequent 
kneelings — the tinkling of bells, dressings, undressings, &c; 
then the cardinals all embraced each other, gave the kiss of 
peace, and the scene closed. 

" The next service I attended was three days after on Wed- 
nesday, in the same chapel at half past four, P. M. The house 
was filled to overflowing. I had a conspicuous place, and 
could distinctly see all that passed, and amused myself through 
a long and tedious chant with my own reflections on the vari- 
ed scenes before me. My attention was then arrested by a 
row of mourning candles, fifteen in number, all lighted, though 
still broad day; the central one overtopped the others, they 
retreating in size each way. I learned the tall mourning 
candle was the Virgin Mary; the nearest each side, like maids 
of honor, were the two Marys, and all the rest apostles. As 
the services proceeded, the candles, one by one, were extin- 
guished, a typical representation of the falling off of the apos- 
tles in the hour of trial , The Virgin was at last left alone in 
the midst, and she at length was set under the altar. As it 
grew dark, only light enough was allowed to make the dark- 
ness visible — to give a sombre, chilling melancholy to the whole 
aspect of things. Strains of music then commenced of such 
unearthly pathos as never before fell on my ear. I will not 
attempt to describe it; for a time I seemed to forget where or 
what I was, so deeply was every faculty of my soul absorbed 
in the plaintive, heart-stirring swellings that rose, and then 
melted away among the suppressed breathings of awe-stricken 
listeners. The lady who sat next me heard till nature fainted 
— and many on my right and left listened till too deeply agita*- 
ted to suppress the keenness of their emotion. 

"Holy Thursday, the succeeding day, was the interment of 
Christ; nearly the same ceremonies were performed as 1 have 
2a2 



282 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



already related, with the addition of the deposit of the host by 
the Pope in the sepulchre beneath the altar at the close of the 
procession . 

"Then came the washing of feet, in imitation of our Saviour's 
washing the disciples' feet. This was performed by the Pope 
himself, officiating in a long white linen robe, and wearing a 
bishop's mitre. 

"A silver bucket of water was presented to him by an at- 
tending Cardinal. The Pope knelt before the first of the pil- 
grim-priests, immersed one foot in water, then touched it with 
a fringed towel — kissed the leg, and gave the cloth and a sort 
of white flower or feather to the man — then went on to the 
next. The whole ceremony occupied but a few moments; 
the Pope then returned to the throne, changed his dress for the 
robes of white and silver, and proceeded to the next service. 
The twelve priests seated themselves at a table, loaded with 
various dishes and flowers ; and the Pope, after pronouncing a 
blessing, handed to each from a side-table, bread, plates, and 
cups of wine, which each rose to receive from his highness' 
hand; a few forms having passed, he gave a parting benedic- 
tion and withdrew." 

"The next day was Good Friday ; went early in the morning 
to the chapel to witness the 4 adoration of the cross ' — a long, 
tedious service of mass, chantings, kneelings, and prayings to 
the cross, from which the mourning-cloth had been removed. 
Then came the service of the 'three hours' agony' of Christ 
upon the cross, which I viewed with feelings so indescribably 
horror-struck, that I shall attempt no minute description of the 
ceremonies. I still shudder, as a confused remembrance of 
the representation of Mount Calvary, with its trees, rocks, 
and thickets, passes before me in review — the dying, agonized 
contortions of the muscles in the face of Him, who redeemed 
us, so strikingly and horribly depicted, that the cold chills 
came over me — the nails, with the spear and the crosses — the 
two dying thieves — the centurions, the horses, and the glitter- 
ing swords — but my head swims at the recollection of the un- 
hallowed sight of scenes, too sacred ever to attempt portray- 
ing. The whole scene, which is a complete drama, is divid- 
ed into seven acts, composed each one of the seven sayings* 

• The seven sayings are these — 

1. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 

2. "To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise." 

3. "Woman, behold thy Son. Son, behold thy mother." 

4. "My God, my God, why hast thou abandoned me." 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



283 



of Christ on the cross ; a tirade of the priest, consisting of 
apostrophes, ejaculations, and exhortations, calculated to excite 
the natural feelings of the auditors, by the help of surround- 
ing scenes even to nature's highest pitch j and when the scene 
was perfect — when the whole multitude sank, exhausted with 
feeling and drowned with tears — when the whole church 
seemed to breathe in one loud burst of agony, as the melting 
sounds of infinite love faintly uttered, ' It is finished — a band 
of friars, clothed in black, came noiselessly issuing from be- 
hind,- they toiled up the steep, winding, and bushy ascent of 
the mountain, emerging now from the thicket, and then from 
the shade of a rock, to remove the body of Him, whose last 
life-drop was spilt for us. The nails were loosened, and the 
body removed and laid on a bier, amid the shrieks and agoniz- 
ing groans of the people, who hastened, one by one, to pay it 
the last tribute of a kiss, before it was borne away. I staid till 
I could stay no longer, and retired amid the prayers, and sighs, 
and tears that found vent from almost every soul but mine, 
with a grieved and melted heart, and a conscience deeply 
reproaching me for witnessing a mock-scene like this. 

"But I have spun this letter to quite an immoderate length. 
I must close, but you shall hear from me again in a few days. 
"Your affectionate brother, 

"Henry S— -~ ." 



"Rome, ■ ' . 

"My Dear Brother, — I am still busied in attendance on Ro- 
man Catholic ceremonies. Curiosity led me, a short time 
since, to witness the holy rite of Baptism, performed on a 
young lady in the family of Mr. R. with whom I am on terms 
of considerable intimacy. The ordinance of baptism, as ad- 
ministered in a Romish Church, is so encumbered with cere- 
monies, that it can be scarcely recognized as the simple seal 
of the gospel-covenant. There are the forms observed before 
coming to the font^those at the font — and those which follow 
the administration of the ordinance. A long series of cate- 
chetical instruction precedes the rite itself, succeeded by ex- 



5. "I thirst." 

6. "It is finished." 

7. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." 



284 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



orcism — which is using 6 words of sacred and religious import, 
and of prayers, to expel the devil, and to weaken and crush 
his power." Salt is put into the mouth — the sign of the cross is 
made with the holy oil upon the forehead, eyes, ears, breast and 
shoulders — the nostrils and ears are touched with spittle — the 
crown of the head is anointed with chrism, after the performance 
of the baptismal ceremony-— a white garment is given, and a 
wax taper, burning, is put into the hand, All these various rites 
are typical of the several effects which the sacred ordinance 
is said to confer; viz: 'To remit original sin and actual guilt, 
however enormous— to remit all the punishment due to sin — to 
bestow invaluable privileges, such as justification and adoption 
— to produce abundance of virtues-— to unite the soul to Christ 
— and to open the portals of heaven,' 

"Such are the unwarranted, efficacious virtues which the 
Romish church have ventured to ascribe to this simple ordi- 
nance, which the Bible recognizes only as the visible sign of 
an inward union, and which of itself and in itself confers no 
grace, 

"Now, see the young lady, of whom I have been speaking, 
pass through the ceremony of taking the veil ! 1 Miss Celia R. 
is a beautiful girl of 17-— only daughter of the brother of Mr, 
R., who deceased about a year since, consigning this, his dear- 
est earthly treasure, to his brother's care. Mr, R. is a native 
Italian, and stanch in his Roman belief — though his lady, I 
suspect, submits with great repugnance to an observance of 
the indispensable mummeries of her husband's faith. Miss R. 
came to Italy, overwhelmed with the sense of melancholy and 
loneliness, which her father's death and her present state of 
orphanage, (though independent in point of fortune,) has occa- 
sioned ; her sadness was not at all lessened by the change of 
customs, of scenes and companions, which her removal from 
the land of her nativity and the associations of early youth 
has produced. She has yielded a listening ear to the counsels 
and persuasions of the friends she has acquired since her arri- 
val, and with a firm faith in the represented advantages and 
pleasures of the life of a nun, she has this morning taken upon 
herself all the solemn, unwarranted, and irrevocable vows 
of monastic life! 

u Poor girl ! in the depth of her present sorrow, the world 
seems dark and cheerless : she knows not that youth, in its 
elasticity, bends only beneath the weight of sorrow, to rise again 
when the fury of the storm is past, and look out upon the charms 
of social life, with all its wonted freshness and delight. Her vi- 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



285 



sions of futurity are now clothed in the sombre shadows which 
her spirit wears ; she dreams not that the bright sun of youth 
and hope, though enveloped now, will soon emerge cloudless, 
and free, and brilliant as it was before. She thinks her sad- 
ness is religion ; her voluntary renunciation of all earth offers, 
an offering acceptable in the eyes of Him, who disdains every 
sacrifice but that of a broken and contrite heart for sin; and 
she seeks the comfort which is found only in repentance and 
faith in the merits of her Saviour, in the cold, dull, monotonous 
round of duties she herself imposes, and the costly sacrifice of 
what her heavenly father never required her to forego. 

"But enough of this — though I am in quite a moralizing 
mood, and heartily sick of cold externals, warmed by no life- 
throb— of a religion all body and no soul. 

"It was a most delightful morning — one of Italy's brightest 
days — and one who has never roamed abroad amid all the 
beauties of Italic scenery, and the soothing mildness and fra- 
grance of her atmosphere, can scarcely conceive how delight- 
ful her bright days are ; and I thought, as I bent my steps at 
an early hour to the chapel in the convent of St. Sylvestro, 
that when the young lady came to look for the last time upon 
the beauties and pleasures she was about to renounce, for the 
cold, cheerless imprisonment of this living tomb, her heart 
must misgive her, and her soul recoil from the rash, fatal vow 
— and I hoped it would be so; for I knew she had volun- 
tarily, unadvised by her uncle or aunt, and strongly opposed by 
the latter, formed this inconsiderate resolution, and chosen this 
living death. But she came at last, and two footmen, in splen- 
did liveries, made way for her entrance. She was in full 
dress, sparkling in brilliants, her dark hair blazing in dia- 
monds, her cheeks unblanched — rather deepened by the ex- 
citement of the moment, and I think I never saw her more 
beautiful. She pressed forward amid the gazing crowd with a 
firm, though gentle step, while the fixed purpose of her soul 
beamed full in her eye ; the path-way and altar were strewed 
with flowers — the public applauding — strangers admiring — 
cardinals blessing — priests flattering — friends weeping — nuns 
chanting — and J, inwardly execrating a practice unauthorized 
by the Bible, uncommanded by Jehovah, yet encouraged and 
insisted upon by those, who unworthily call themselves the 
messengers of the will of the Highest. 

"The ceremonies commenced. You can scarcely imagine 
the indignation that by this time boiled within me, as I listen- 
ed to the discourse pronounced from the pulpit by an old, fat 



286 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



Dominican monk, who poured forth such a volume of rhapsody 
— with not a particle of sober reason or religion in it ; or any 
thing, except what was calculated to inflame an inexperienced 
imagination ; calling her ' the affianced spouse of Christ,' a 
6 saint on earth,' 6 one who had renounced the vanities of the 
world for a foretaste of the joys of heaven,' &c. — such as you, 
my brother, with all your fire, would not have staid to hear. 

" The sermon closed, and at the altar the beautiful victim 
knelt — and on it laid her youth and beauty, wealth — the plea 
sures and refinements of life, the delights of friendship, the 
charms of nature and of freedom — every thing — all that na- 
ture has to give, she gave ; she sacrificed them all on the 
shrine before her, and pronounced those vows which severed 
her from them forever. 

"As the chant of her fatal vow died away in melting recita- 
tive, every eye was moistened, as far as my vision reached, 
save hers for whom they wept. 

"Her diamonds were then removed; and her long dark 
tresses, in all their native polish and beauty, fell clustering 
about her shoulders — one lock of it was monopolized by the 
cardinal — then the grate opened, the choral voices of the black 
sisterhood chanted a strain of welcome, as she retired from 
the benediction of the cardinal and the embraces of her friends, 
within her future tomb. She renounced her name and adopt- 
ed a new one — her beautiful garments were removed, and the 
plain, coarse dress of the Franciscan order was assumed ; her 
ornaments were laid away forever, and nature's beautiful cov- 
ering, that richly polished hair, was severed by the sisters' 
fatal shears. 

" The white veil was thrown on ; (which is a very differ- 
ent thing from what I had supposed, being simply 'a piece 
of white linen, fixed on the top or back part of the head, and 
falling down behind or on each side, as on a veiled statue.') 
Attired in the sober dress of a noviciate nun, the beantiful 
Celia R. appeared to view again behind the open grate — not 
otherwise, for she and the world, (save seen through the bars 
of her life-prison) were now parted forever. We all agreed 
the simple dress of the new nun had not at all abated from her 
beauty, for her bright eyes, and the lovely expression of her 
fair countenance had not departed with her brilliant attire. / 
thought her, indeed, even prettier than before. 

"She appeared calm and firm until the last, when nature 
would have its gush, and while receiving the praises, congrat- 
ulations and sympathy of friends and acquintance, in spite 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



287 



of her, her tears fell fast and free. We left her — the heroine 
of an hour. — But oh ! how often in the long, dark flight of the 
tedious hours to which she has doomed herself, will she sigh 
over that fatal moment with bitter repentance, but it will come 
too late I" 

"In my next letter, I intend to tell you about the immense 
stock of 'merits,' which have been, and are still accumulating 
—an inexhaustible fund from which they presume on their in- 
dulgences, but have not time now; indeed I must postpone 
what I had intended to say on other points, for urgent duties 
demand my attention. 

" But believe me, my dear brother, as ever, your affectionate, 

"Henry ." 



" Rome . 

" My dear brother, — This is my last letter, from Rome ; my 
health has wonderfully improved, and I intend soon to set my 
face homeward. 

" Before this reaches you, I shall probably be on my way. 
I shall have bid adieu to all the beauty and splendor of this 
classic city, once mistress of the world, and be quite beyond 
the charms of her scenery, the balmy breath of her delight- 
ful hills, and all her romantic associations ; and indeed the 
latter have long since floated from my memory, so absorbed 
have I become in the interests of her future spiritual welfare 
— but I shall carry with me many new thoughts and new feel- 
ings, which, by the blessing of God, will prompt to many new 
efforts and to many new plans. 

"Henceforth, my brother, I will be the LoroVs! I will live 
for Him, act for Him, think for Him, and direct every effort 
of my soul to co-operate in bringing back this darkened, delu- 
ded world of immortals, to the standard of the holy and peaceful 
allegiance of Jesus; to hasten that latter-day glory, which my 
soul never longed with such intensity to see, as since I have 
contrasted its brightness and purity with the depressing gloom 
and abominations of the superstitious ages behind us, yet lin- 
gering in their retreat. My heart has almost melted within 
me, as I have watched the thick, dark clouds, which have set- 
tled over this people, and the horrible blackness of darkness 
which has shrouded, and still envelopes so many millions of 
perishing immortals, as they make their final plunge into the 
fathomless gulf of eternity, blindly unprepared, deceived by 



288 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



blind guides, and eternally lost. Oh ! the wo reserved in the 
dregs of the cup of antichrist, the indescribable torments that 
await him at the decisions of the last great day ! 

"Every delusion I find in the ( cup of abominations,' pre- 
pared for the nations by the 4 mother of harlots,' and greedily 
drank by easily-deceived souls, thirsting for a blessed immor- 
tality, awakens new and deeper pangs of indignation and 
grief, till my heart, at times, is ready to burst in the depths of 
its distress for souls. 

" I thought when I last wrote to you, that I had some faint 
glimpse of the deceits and delusions practised on the follow- 
ers of Popery. I could see depths, frightful and immense, of 
treasures of gold and silver, which Papal imposition had ex- 
torted from the ignorant and superstitious, to pamper and up- 
hold the dominion of the prince of darkness ; but I had not 
fathomed, with my imperfect vision, the greatest reservoir of 
all, with its endless channels and its untold bounds — I mean 
that of f indulgences.' I was not, to be sure, ignorant of the 
existence of such a fraud to obtain the mammom of unright- 
eousness, for I had found scarcely a church in Rome, where 
'plenary indulgence' did not blaze in tempting letters — but of 
the extent to which this fraud was carried, and the immense 
source of revenue it has become, I was uninformed. I had 
been rather startled, I confess, at the full pardon of sin which 
a few prayers before certain shrines, and a few pence, slipped 
into the hand of a priest, would procure ; but my hair stood 
almost upright, when I learned, that by the performance of a 
few trifling, heartless ceremonies, and the payment of certain 
sums of money, 30 or 40,000 and even 500,000 years of in- 
dulgence might be purchased. I find indulgences are of dif- 
ferent degrees — ' full,' 'more than full,' ' fullest.' A full in- 
dulgence will ' clear you of all that can be laid to your charge, 
and bring you to a baptismal innocency till the time and date 
of the indulgence ; but in case you live longer, though but a 
fortnight, your total indulgence is spent, and therefore to help 
you out here, you may have a fuller indulgence, which will 
carry you to the end of your journey.' 

"You may buy as many masses as will free your souls 
from purgatory for 29,000 years, at the church of St. John's 
Lateran, on the festa of that saint. 

" Those that have interest with the Pope, may obtain an ab- 
solution in full, from his Holiness, for all the sins they ever 
have committed, or may choose to commit. 

" Certain prices, it seems, are affixed to certain sins, and 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



289 



entire absolution may be obtained for any sin you can name, 
by paying the stipulated sum. 

^ For sins which in the Holy Scriptures we find called down 
the terrific judgments of heaven, a man may obtain absolution 
from the Pope for two shillings, two and sixpence, and per- 
haps less. It is almost incredible what a source of revenue 
the sale of bulls of indulgences has been to the Romish church 
— what uncounted treasures have been amassed in the Pope's 
coffers by this means." 

"No measures are untried, that crafty policy suggests, to 
extort masses fot the dead — to solicit contributions for the re- 
lief of suffering souls in purgatory. Strange tales of frightful 
visions and apparitions are circulated, £ of souls standing in burn- 
ing brimestone, some up to their knees, and some to the chin — 
of others swimming in cauldrons of melted lead, and devils 
pouring metal down their throats,' with many such stories, 
greedily swallowed by superstition and ignorance. Solicitors, 
or agents, bearing lanterns with a painted glass, representing 
naked persons enveloped in flames, parade the streets and en- 
ter houses with tales that alarm, and appeals that excite the 
compassion for these 'holy souls.' 

" So great is the dread of the horrors of purgatory, that be- 
sides the satisfactions they make in. their life time, many de- 
luded souls leave large legacies to the church to procure mas- 
ses daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, as far as their money 
will go. Thus also are multitudes of the living induced, 
through, compassion for the supposed sufferings of their de- 
ceased relatives, to spend large and frequent sums ; sometimes 
even to forego many comforts and necessaries, to redeem by 
masses the souls of those they love from the horrors of the 
middle state. Many would rather starve their surviving fam- 
ilies, than neglect the souls of the departed. This doctrine is 
a mine, as profitable to the church, as the Indies to Spain." 

u You cannot conceive, my dear brother, of the depravation 
of morals here. If nothing enters heaven 1 that defileth,' it 
must be a comfortable thought to the priests as well as the 
people, that a place is mercifully provided to cleanse them 
from the impurities of the debauchery they indulge on earth. 
The celibacy of the priests is but a cloak for the most shame- 
less wickedness, so frequent and impudent as scarce to seek 
concealment — the day of judgment will reveal such enormi- 
ties as will make every ear to tingle." 

66 I wonder not, my brother, at the indignation which boiled 
in the breast of the bold and fearless Luther, at the shameful 

2B 



290 



LETTERS FROM ROME. 



and infamous traffic of indulgences. 4 Behold how great a 
matter a little fire kindleth!' Little did he imagine the flame 
that burned within his own breast was the torch to kindle 
Christendom — a light to turn the eyes of ages towards the 
rising of that better day, so dear to the hearts of all Christ's 
followers. How great should be our gratitude, that we were 
not nurtured in the long reign of darkness, which shrouded 
this and other countries before the deep, loud blast of Luther's 
trumpet sounded the alarm among sleeping Christians. He 
began a noble work; may all our energies be enlisted in its 
advancement, till He, whose right it is, shall rule and reign 
from sea to sea — from the river to the ends of the earth. 
Great is the work, even of a private Christian, I believe, if 
he stands in his lot, doing with his might what his hands find 
to do. 

44 May you and I, my dear brother, be watchful and diligent 
in our Master's work, that when hecometh,he may say, 44 Well 
done, good and faithful servants, enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord." 

44 Yours, in the bonds of the strongest affection, 

Henry S— 



APPENDIX, 



CONTAINING THE PRESERVATIVE AGAINST 



POPERY; 

BY THE REV. JOSEPH BLANCO WHITE. 



Formerly Chaplain to the King of Spain, in the Royal Chapel 
of Seville, — now a Clergyman of the Church of 
England. 

DIALOGUE I. 

Containing an account of the Author ; how the Errors of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church made him an Infidel ; and how, to avoid her Tyranny, he came 
to England, where the knowledge of the Protestant Religion, made him 
again embrace Cliristianity. 

Reader. Well, Sir, since you are pleased to wish for a con- 
versation with me, may I make bold to ask who you are ? 

Author. By all means, my good friend. The truth is, that 
unless you know who I am, and by what strange and unfore- 
seen events I happen to be here, our conversation would be 
to little purpose. You must, then, know, in the first place, 
that I am a Spaniard, and have been regularly bred and or- 
dained a Catholic priest. 

R. Indeed, Sir! Perhaps you are one of those poor crea- 
tures who, I hear, have been driven out of Spain for having v 
tried to give it a better government. 

A. No, my friend: I have been now (1825) more than fif- 
teen years in England, and came hither of my own accord, 
though I left behind every thing that was most dear to me, be- 
sides very good preferment in the church, and the prospect of 
rising to higher places of honor and emolument. 

R. Why, Sir! that appears strange. 

291 



292 



PRESERVATIVE 



A. So it must to those who are not acquainted with the evil 
from which I resolved to escape, at the expense of every thing 
I possessed in the world. You, my dear friend, have had your 
lot cast in a country which is perfectly free from religious ty- 
ranny. Were it possible for you to have been born in Spain, 
and yet to possess the free spirit of a Briton, you would not 
wonder at the determination which made me quit parents, kin- 
dred, friends, wealth and country, and cast myself upon the 
world at large, at the age of five and thirty, trusting to my own 
exertions for a maintenance. All this I did merely to escape 
from religious tyranny. 

R. You quite surprise me, Sir ! But I wish you would tell 
me what it is you mean by that religious tyranny, which you 
seem to have feared and hated so strongly. 

A. You will easily understand it as I proceed with the story 
of my own life. I was born of gentle parents, and brought 
up with great care and tenderness. My father's family were 
Irish, and the English language being spoken by him and ma- 
ny of his dependants, I learned it when a boy; and thanks to 
that circumstance, which I consider as a means employed by 
Providence for my future good, I can now thus freely converse 
with you. Both my father and mother were Roman Catholics, 
extremely pious from their youth, and devoted to works of char- 
ity and piety during the whole course of their lives. It was 
natural that such good parents should educate their children in' 
the most religious manner; and they spared themselves no 
pains to make me a good Roman Catholic. My disposition was 
not wayward; and I grew up strongly attached to the sort of 
religion which was instilled into my mind. I had scarcely ar- 
rived at my fourteenth year, when, believing that the life in 
which I could most please God was that of a clergyman, I ask- 
ed my parents to prepare me for the church ; which they agreed 
to with great joy. I passed many years at the university, took 
my degrees, and at the age of five and twenty, was made a 
Priest. It is the custom in Spain, when certain places become 
vacant in cathedrals, and other great churches, to invite as ma- 
ny clergyman as will allow themselves to be examined, before 
the public, to stand candidates for the vacancy. After the tri- 
al of their learning, the judges appointed by law, give the place 
to him whom they believe to be the most competent. — I should 
be ashamed to boast, but so it happened, that soon after my 
becoming a Priest, I was made one of the Chaplains of the 
King of Spain, in the way I have just told you. All had been, 
hitherto, well enough with me ; and I thank God that the ease 



AGAINST POPERY. 



293 



and good fortune which had always attended me, did not 
make me forget my duties as a Clergyman. — Doubts, however, 
had occurred to me now and then, as to whether the Roman 
Catholic religion was true. My fear of doing wrong by lis- 
tening to them, made me hush them for a long time : but all 
my peace of mind was gone. In vain did I kneel and pray : 
the doubts would multiply upon me, disturbing all my devo- 
tions. Thus I struggled month after month, till unable to an- 
swer the objections that continually occurred to me, I renoun- 
ced the Roman Catholic religion in my heart. 

JR. In your heart, Sir ! I hope you do not mean that when 
you had settled with yourself that the Popish religion was 
false, you pretended still to be a Roman Catholic. 

A. What would you think of a power, or authority, that 
would force you to act like a hypocrite ? 

R. I should think that it was no better than the government 
of the Turks, which, as I hear, treats men like beasts. 

A. Well ; now you will be able to understand what I mean 
by religious tyranny. The Popes of Rome believe that they 
have a right to oblige all men who have been baptized, but 
more especially those who have been baptized by their Priests, 
to continue Roman Catholics to their lives' end. Whenever 
any one living under their authority, has ventured to deny 
any of the doctrines which the Church of Rome believes, they 
have shut them up in prisons, tormented them upon the rack, 
and, if they would not recant, and unsay what they had given 
out as their real persuasion, the poor wretches have been 
burnt as heretics. The kings of Spain, being Catholics, acted 
upon these matters according to the will of the Pope ; and, in 
order to prevent every Spainard from being any thing, at least 
in appearance, but a Papist, had established a court called the 
Inquisition, where a certain number of Priests tried, in secret, 
such people as were accused of having denied any of the arti- 
cles of the Roman Catholic faith. Whenever, moved by fear 
of the consequences, the prisoner chose to eat his own words, 
and declare that he was wrong; the Priests sent him to do 
penance for a certain time, or laid a heavy fine upon him : but 
if the accused had courage to persist in his own opinion, then 
the Priests declared that he was a heretic, and gave him up to 
the public executioner, to be burnt alive. 

R. You astonish me. Have you ever seen such things, Sir? 

A. I well remember the last that was burnt for being a here- 
tic, in my own town, which is called Seville. It was a poor 
blind woman. I was then about eight years old, and saw the 
2b2 



294 



PRESERVATIVE 



pile of wood, upon barrels of pitch and tar, where she was 

reduced to ashes. 

R. But are there many who venture their lives for the sake 
of what they believe to be the true Gospel? 

A. Alas ! there was a time when many hundreds of men 
and women sacrificed themselves for the love of the Protestant 
religion which is professed in England. But the horrible 
cruelties which were practised upon them, disheartened all 
those who were disposed to throw off the yoke of the Pope; 
and now people disguise their religious opinions, in order to 
avoid the most horrible persecution. 

R. And you, Sir, of course, were obliged to disguise your 
own persuasion, in order not to lose your liberty and your life. 

A. Just so. I lived ten years in the most wretched and 
distressed state of mind. Nothing, was wanting to my being 
happy but the liberty of declaring my opinions; but that is 
impossible for a Roman Catholic, who lives under the laws 
which the Popes have induced most of the Roman Catholic 
princes to establish in their kingdoms. I could not say, as a 
Roman Catholic may, under the government of Great Brit- 
ain and Ireland, " I will no longer be a spiritual subject of 
the Pope : I will worship God as my conscience tells me I 
should, and according to what I find in the Bible." No: had 
I said so, or even much less ; had any words escaped me, in 
conversation, from which it might be suspected that I did not 
believe exactly what the Pope commands, I should have been 
taken out of my bed in the middle of the night, and carried 
to one of the prisons of the Inquisition. Often, indeed, very 
often have I passed a restless night under the apprehension 
that, in consequence of some unguarded words, my house 
would be assailed by the ministers of the Inquisition, and I 
should be hurried away in the black carriage, which they 
used for conveying dissenters to their dungeons. Happy in- 
deed are the people of these kingdoms, where every man's 
house is his castle ; and where, provided he has not committed 
some real crime, he may sleep under the protection of a mere 
latch to his door, as if he dwelt in a walled and moated for- 
tress ! No such feeling of safety can be enjoyed where the 
tyranny of Popery prevails. A Roman Catholic, who is not 
protected by Protestant laws, is all over the world a slave, who 
cannot utter a word against the opinions of his church, but at 
his peril. " The very walls have ears," is a common saying 
in my country. A man is indeed beset with spies; for the 
Church of Rome has contrived to employ every one as such, 



AGAINST POPERY. 



295 



against his nearest and dearest relations. Every year there is> 
publicly read at church, a proclamation, or (as they call it) 
a bull from the Pope, commanding parents to accuse their 
children, children their parents, husbands their wives, and 
wives their husbands, of any words or actions against the Ro- 
man Catholic Religion. They are told, that whoever diso- 
beys this command, not only incurs damnation for his own 
soul, but is the cause of the same to those whom he wishes to 
spare. So that many have had for their accusers their fathers 
and mothers, without knowing to whom they owed their suffer- 
ings under the Inquisitors ; for the name of the informer is 
kept a most profound secret, and the accused is tried without 
ever seeing the witnesses against him. 

jR. I am perfectly astonished at the things you say, Sir; and 
did I not perceive by your manners that you are a gentleman, 
I should certainly suspect that you were trying to trepan us 
poor unlearned people. 

A. I neither wonder, nor am offended at your suspicion. 
All that I can say to remove it is, that I am well known in 
London ; that for the truth of every thing you have already 
heard, and will hear from me, I am ready to be examined upon 
oath; and that there are many hundreds of Spaniards at this 
moment in England, who will attest every word of mine about 
the Inquisition of the Pope in Spain. I say the Inquisition of 
the Pope, because that horrible court of justice was establish- 
ed, kept up, and managed by and under the Pope's authority. 
And now I must add one word as to the effects of the Pope's 
contrivance to make spies of the nearest relations, against 
those who might not believe every tittle of the Roman Catho- 
lic Religion. I have told you that my parents were good and 
kind. My mother was a lady whom all the poor of the neigh- 
borhood loved for her goodness and charity ; and indeed I 
often saw her denying herself even the common comforts of 
life, that she might have the more to give away. I was her 
favorite child, being the eldest; and it is impossible for a 
mother to love with more ardent affection than she showed 
towards me. Well, as I could not entirely conceal my own 
mind in regard to Popery, she began to suspect that I was not 
a true Roman Catholic in my heart. Now, she knew that the 
Pope had made it her duty to turn informer even against her 
own child, in such cases ; and dreading that the day might 
come, when some words should drop from me against the 
Roman Catholic religion, which it would be her duty to carry 
to the judges, she used to avoid my company, and shut herself 



296 



PRESERVATIVE 



up, to weep for me. I could not, at first, make out why my 
dear mother shunned my company; and was cut to the heart 
by her apparent unkindness. I might to this day have believ- 
ed that I had lost her affection, but that an intimate friend of 
hers put me in possession of the state of her mind. 

R. Upon my word, Sir, you give me such horror of Roman 
Catholics, that I shall in future look with suspicion on some 
neighbors of mine of that persuasion. 

A. God forbid that such should be the consequence of my 
communication with you. The Roman Catholic religion in 
itself, and such as the Pope would make it all over the world, 
if there were no protestant laws to resist it, is the most horri- 
ble system of tyranny that ever opposed the welfare of man. 
But most of the Roman Catholics in these kingdoms are not 
aware of the evils which their religion is likely to produce. 
They have grown up under the influence of a constitution, 
which owes its full freedom to Protestantism; and many of 
them are Protestants in feelings, whom their priests, I am 
sure, must lead with a very light rein-hand, for fear of their 
running away. There is, indeed, no reason for either fear or 
suspicions, with regard to the Roman Catholics of these king- 
doms, so long as both the Government and Parliament remain 
purely Protestant; but I would not answer for the conse- 
quences if the Pope, through his priests, could obtain an un- 
derhand influence in either. 

jR. But, Sir, I want to know the rest of your own story, and 
how, though obliged to appear outwardly a Roman Catholic, 
you settled within yourself what you were to believe. 

A. I will not delay to satisfy your curiosity, though that 
part of my story is the most painful to me. At all events, 
you will be sure, when you hear it, that I am telling the truth, 
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, since I do not spare 
myself. — You must know, then, that from the moment I be- 
lieved that the Roman Catholic religion was false, I had no 
religion at all, and lived without God in the world. 

jR. I am sorry to hear that, Sir. But surely you might 
have tried some other church before you became an Infidel. 

A. Ah, my honest and worthy friend, your expressions de- 
serve my praise, though I feel humbled and rebuked by their 
truth. Yet you forget that I was in a country where the 
Roman Catholic religion played its accustomed game of 
Christ with the Pope, or no Christ The first thing that a 
true Roman Catholic teaches those who grow under his care 
is, that either all that the Church of Rome believes is true, or 



AGAINST POPERY. 



297 



all that is contained in the Scriptures is false. To believe that 
the Church of Rome can be, or is wrong in one single article 
of her creed, is, according to that Church, the same as to dis- 
believe the whole Gospel. That is the reason why in coun- 
tries where the Roman Catholic religion is strictly observed, 
every one who rejects Popery in his heart, looks immediately 
upon Christianity as a fable. 

R. Pardon me, Sir, I do not mean to offend you ; but I 
should wish to know if you still continue of the same opinion, 
and believe with Hone and Carlile, and all that kind of peo- 
ple, whose books are sometimes secretly sold among country- 
folks, that there is no truth in the Bible. 

A. I am so far from being of that mind, that I do humbly 
and earnestly pray to God he will rather deprive me of every 
temporal comfort, and make my sufferings in this world equal 
to those of the most unhappy wretch that ever breathed, 
than withdraw from me his grace, whereby I believe in his 
Son, Jesus Christ, and hope, through his merits, for eternal 
salvation. 

R. I have not the heart to say Amen to the first part of your 
prayer, though I cordially join in the last. But will you have 
the goodness to inform me how it was that you came to believe 
again in the Bible, in spite of your former opinions? Fori 
have often heard a neighbor of mine, who frequently boasts 
that he is an infidel, say, that the man whose eyes are once 
(as he calls it) open about the Bible, can never be made again 
to believe in it. 

A. I wish I could relate my own history to that neighbor 
of yours. Perhaps, by God's mercy, he might himself use 
i some of the means which Providence has employed in my 
own conversion. Of one thing I feel quite assured on this 
point, that if by God's grace, which always assists the honest 
inquirer after religious truth, your infidel neighbor would 
abstain from open sin, and pray daily to his Maker, (for I hope 
he has not gone so far as to deny the being of a God,) to lead 
him into the truth, he would soon become a sincere Christian, 
But I will proceed with the account of myself. When I had 
in my own mind thrown off all allegiance to the Christian re- 
ligion, though I tried to enjoy myself, and indulge my desires, 
I could find neither happiness nor comfort. My mind was 
naturally averse to deceit, and I could not brook the necessity 
of acting publicly as the minister of a religion which I believed 
to be false. But what could I do? As for wealth and honors, 
heaven knows they did not weigh a straw against my love of 



298 



PRESERVATIVE 



manly openness and liberty. I once, indeed, went so far as to 
write to a friend who lived at Cadiz, and whom, after many 
years' absence, I have lately seen in London, to procure me a 
passage to North America, whither I wished to escape ; trust- 
ing to my own labor for subsistence. But when I looked 
round and saw my dear father and mother on the decline of 
life ; when I considered that my flight would bring their grey 
hairs with sorrow to the grave, tears would gush into my 
eyes, and the courage which I owed to anger, melted at once 
into love for the authors of my being. Ten years of my life 
did I pass in this hot and cold fever, this ague of the heart, 
without a hope, without a drop of that cordial which cheers 
the very soul of those who sacrifice their desires to their duty, 
under the blessed influence of religion. At last it pleased 
God to afford me a means of escaping from the tyranny of 
the Pope, and make me willingly and joyfully submit to the 
easy yoke of his blessed Son, Jesus Christ. The ways of Provi- 
dence for my change appear so wonderful to me, that I feel al- 
most overcome when I earnestly think upon them. In the 
first place, it was certain that I could not leave Spain for a 
Protestant country, without giving a death-blow to my parents. 
Could any human being have foreseen, in the year 1807, that 
in 1810, my own father and mother would urge me to leave 
my country for England? And yet, so it came to pass. You 
have heard how Bonaparte entered Spain with the design of 
placing his brother Joseph upon the throne of that country; 
how for a time he seemed to have obtained his wishes when 
his armies advanced till they came within view of Cadiz, and 
threatened to extinguish the last hope of the Spaniards. I 
was at that time at Seville, my native town. As the French 
troops approached it, all those who would not submit to their 
government, and had the means of removing to another place, 
tried to be beforehand with them, by taking their flight to 
Cadiz. My parents could not abandon their home ; but as 
they abhorred the French troops, and hated the injustice of 
their invasion, they were anxious that I should quit the town. 
Here I saw the most favorable opening for executing my 
long delayed plan for escaping the religious tyranny under 
which I groaned; and pretending that I did not feel secure at 
Cadiz, prepared in four days to leave my country for England. 
I knew it was forever, and my heart bleeds at the recollec- 
tion of the last view I took of my father and mother. A few 
weeks after I found myself on these shores. 

R. Indeed, Sir, I think you did right. Poor as I am, had I 



AGAINST POPERY. 



299 



known your case when you arrived, I would have shook you 
by the hand, and welcomed you to my cottage. 

A. If I should tell you all the gratitude I feel for this coun- 
try, and my sense of the kindness and friendship with which 
I have met from the moment I landed, you might suspect me 
of flattery. — But how different appeared England to me from 
what I had imagined it to be ! 

R. What, sir, did you fear that we should behave rudely to 
a foreigner, who came for shelter among us ? 

A. No, indeed; that was not my mistake. I found England 
as hospitable and generous as it had always been described to 
me. But one thing I found in it which I never expected; that 
was, true and sincere religion. I have told you that in Popish 
countries people aro made to believe that whoever is not a 
Roman Catholic is only a Christian in name. I therefore 
supposed that in this Protestant country, though men appeared 
externally to have a religion, few or none would care any 
thing about it. Now observe the merciful dispensations of 
Providence with regard to me. Had I upon my first arrival 
fallen in with some of your infidels, I should have been con- 
firmed in all my errors. But it pleased God so to direct 
events as to make me very soon acquainted with one of the 
most excellent and religious families in London. I had in my 
former blindness and ignorance, believed that since in Spain, 
which is the most thoroughly Roman Catholic country in the 
world, the morals in general are very loose ; a nation of Chris- 
tians only in name, (for such was my mistaken opinion of you) 
would be infinitely more addicted to vicious courses. But, 
when I began to look about me, and observed the modesty of 
the ladies, the quiet and orderly lives of the greatest part of 
the gentry, and compared their decent conversation with the 
profane talk which is tolerated in my country, I perceived, at 
once, that my head was full of absurd notions, and prepared 
myself to root out from it whatever I should find to be wrong. 
In this state of mind I went one Sunday to Church, out of mere 
curiosity ; for my thoughts were at that time very far from 
God and his worship. The unmeaning ceremonies of the 
Roman Catholics had made me sick of churches and church- 
service. But when in the course of the prayers, I perceived 
the beautiful simplicity and the warm-heartedness, if I may 
say so, of your prayer-book, my heart, which, for ten years, 
had appeared quite dead to all religious feelings, could not 
but show a disposition to revive, like the leafless trees when 
breathed upon by the first soft breezes of spring. God had 




300 



PRESERVATIVE 



prevented its becoming a dead trunk : it gave indeed no signp 
of life ; but the sap was stirring up from the root. This wafr 
easily perceived in the effect which the singing of a hymn ha< 
upon me that morning. It begins — 

When all thy mercies, my God, 

My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 

In wonder, love, and praise. 

The sentiments expressed in this beautiful hymn penetrated 
my soul like the first rain that falls upon a thirsty land. My 
long, impious disregard of God, the father and supporter of 
my life and being, made me blush, and feel ashamed of myself; 
and a strong sense of the irrational ungratefulness in which I 
had so long lived, forced a profusion of tears from my eyes. 
I left the church a very different man from what I was when 
I entered it; but still very far from being a true believer in 
Christ. Yet, from that day I began to put up a very short, 
prayer every morning, asking for light and protection from my 
Creator, and thanking him for his goodness. It happened 
about that time that some books concerning the truth of re- 
ligion — a kind of works in which this country excels all 
others — fell in my way. I thought it fair to examine the mat- 
ter again, though I imagined that no man could ever answer 
the arguments against it, which had become quite familiar to 
my mind. As I grew less and less prejudiced against the 
truth of Divine Revelation, I prayed more earnestly for assis- 
tance in the important examination in which I was engaged, 
I then began a careful perusal of the Scriptures, and it pleased 
God, at the end of two years, to remove my blindness, so far 
as to enable me with humble sincerity to receive the sacra- 
ment according to the manner of the Church of England; 
which appeared to me, in the course of my inquiries, to be of 
all human establishments, the most suited, in her discipline, t( 
promote the ends of the Gospel, and in her doctrines as pure 
and orthodox as those which were founded by the Apostles 
themselves. It is to me a matter of great comfort that I have 
now lived a much longer period in the acknowledgment of the 
truth of Christianity, than I spent in my former unbelief. 

jR. You have indeed great reason to thank God. But have 
you never had any doubts about our church, since you became 
a member of it. 

A. Never, my friend, as compared with the Roman Catho- 
lic. I am so fully persuaded that the doctrines properly called 
Popish, and which make the real difference between Protes- 



AGAINST POPERY. 



301 



tants and Romanists, are false, that they would shake my faith 
in the Gospel, if one could prove to me that they are part of 
it. That I am sure can never be done ; and since I learnt to 
separate the chaff of Rome from the true grain of Christ, I 
have never turned my back on my Master and Redeemer. I 
will, however, confess to you, that several years after I em- 
braced the Protestant religion, I was strongly tempted in my 
faith ; not, however, as I said before, from any leaning to pope- 
ry, but from a doubt whether the doctrine of the people called 
Unitarians — I mean those who say that Christ was nothing 
but a man, the son of Joseph and Mary — might not be true. 
This was a very severe trial to me ; for as I had so long re- 
nounced the Christian faith, my mind required an uncommon 
assistance of Divine grace, to prevent it from relapsing, like a 
person recovered out of a long illness, into my old habits of 
unbelief. In this state of doubt, but without any rash positive- 
ness on either side (for, thank God, my past errors had made 
me well acquainted with my weakness,) I carefully examined 
the Scriptures, never omitting to pray to the Almighty that he 
would make me acquainted with the truth. Clouds of doubt 
hovered, a long time, over my soul, and darkness increased 
now and then in such a degree that I feared my Christian faith 
had been extinguished. Had I, in consequence of this dispo- 
sition to unbelief, returned, as is often the case, to a course of 
immorality, nothing could have saved me from a relapse into 
infidelity. But the grace of God was secretly at work in me, 
and whatever doubts I had about the doctrines of the Gospel, 
I never deemed myself at liberty, openly and wilfully to offend 
against its commandments. I sincerely wished to find the 
truth; and though in my distress I felt often inclined to doubt 
again the truth of Revelation, my knowledge of the vanity and 
flimsiness of infidelity, made me turn to Christ, and say (I can 
assure you I often uttered the words aloud in tears,) "To whom 
shall I go? thou hast the words of eternal life."* Partly from 
these doubts, and partly from a long and lingering illness 
which the change of climate had brought upon me, I passed 
the greatest part of a year without receiving the sacrament. 
Had I, as far as it was my own fault, abstained much longer 
from that appointed means of grace, I fear I should have fallen 
a second time from the faith ; but, by God's mercy, I examined 
myself upon that point, and finding that my conscience did not 
charge me with any true impediment to the reception of the 



* John vi. 68. 

2C 



302 



PRESERVATIVE 



Holy Sacrament; and that, as to the doubts on my mind, they 
were involuntary, and accompanied with a sincere desire of 
finding the truth, I presented myself at the sacramental table, 
with feelings, similar to those which I conceived I should have, 
if, as it was then probable, death had sent me with my doubts, 
before the judgment seat of Christ. I threw myself, in fact, 
wholly upon his mercy. My trust was not in vain : for calm 
was soon restored to my soul ; and I found myself stronger than 
ever in the faith and profession which I made when I became 
a member of the Church of England. You see, my friend, that 
I disguise not my weakness from the world. You may suppose, 
that for a man who has spent his whole life in the pursuit of 
learning, it must be very mortifying to publish so many errors, 
so many doubts, in a word, to shew the utter feebleness of his 
mind and soul, when unsupported by Divine grace. But I 
conceive this to be a duty which I owe to the truth of the Gos- 
pel, and to the spiritual welfare of my fellow-creatures. How 
happy should I be if the humblest individual, when tempted, 
should take courage from the knowledge of my case, and cling 
to prayer whilst he examined, like the noble Bereans, "whether 
these things were so."* 

R. Sir, I pity what you have suffered ; but I must say it com-' 
forts me to find that doubts and errors upon religious subjects 
are not confined to the unlearned. 

A. They are not, indeed ; on the contrary, the pride of hu- 
man knowledge is often the rock on which the faith of the high- 
er classes of society is wrecked. It is the true character of 
the Gospel to be "hid from the wise and prudent, and to be 
revealed unto babes ;"t not that true learning or knowledge is 
in opposition to spiritual truth, but because the best dispositions 
for faith are humility and singleness of heart. The appointed 
ministers of the Church of Christ are indeed commanded to 
"be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the 
gainsayers,"t but, though this direction of the Apostle Paul 
does not exclude the laity from religious learning, and every 
man, according to his ability, should make himself acquainted 
with the unanswerable reasons on which the truth of the Gos- 
pel is founded, the saving faith of Christianity requires no 
book-learning to have its full effect on the heart. Happy in- 
deed are those millions of humble Christians, who, from the 
publication of the Gospel to our own times, have received the 
doctrines of the Bible by the simple means of their Catechism. 

*Acts xvii. 11. t Luke x. 21. J Tit. i. 9. 



AGAINST POPERY. 



303 



and the instructions imparted by their Christian Pastors, and 
so ordered their lives as not to wish those doctrines to be false! 
How infinitely more happy is the lot of these humble Chris- 
tians, than mine! After spending my whole life in reading; 
after trying, by ten years' incessant study, to obtain a com- 
plete assurance that Christianity was a fable, and finding out, 
at last, by great attention and labor, that such books as enga- 
ged to prove it, had deceived me ; I have to thank God that by 
his grace, I find myself, as to Christian faith, upon a level with 
the humblest and most illiterate disciple of Christ, who trusts 
in his redeeming blood for salvation. — Yet the ways of God are 
wonderful ; and it is not presumptuous to hope that the bitter 
struggles of my mind may be made the means of confirming 
the faith of many. 

JR. I feel assured they will. Without flattering you, sir, or 
supposing that your talents or knowledge are above the com- 
mon run of gentlemen of your class, it stands to reason, that 
the religion, which, after being so many years an unbeliever, 
you have embraced so earnestly, must have a very strong evi- 
dence in support of its truth. 

A. So strong, my friend, that whoever takes proper pains to 
examine it, if he really acknowledge that there is a living 
God, a Being who concerns himself in the moral conduct of 
mankind, will never be at rest, till he has either believed in 
Christ, or succeeded in making himself completely blind and 
careless on spiritual subjects, allowing himself to be drifted by 
the rapid stream of life, without ever giving a thought to the 
unknown shores on which he is sure soon, very soon, to be 
cast. The greatest part of those who pretend to believe in a 
God, and yet reject the Gospel where it is publicly taught 
without the errors of Popery, do not mean by the name of the 
Deity, any thing like the Supreme Being, the living God, the 
intelligent Creator of mankind revealed in the Scriptures ; but 
some unknown cause of what we call Nature, to which the 
good or bad conduct of men is equally indifferent. If it were 
not so, they could never suppose that a religion like the Chris- 
tian, supported by proofs so superior to those of all the other 
religions of the world, so infinitely above them all in the puri- 
ty of its laws, and so effectual in allaying the storms of evil 
passions, and bestowing peace and happiness on the breast that 
fairly gives it room to act; it is impossible, I say, that a man 
who really believes in an all-seeing, and all-wise God, could at 
the same time believe that religion equally a cheat with all 
( the other superstitions of the world; and that it is indifferent to 



304 



PRESERVATIVE 



Him, whether men, who can make the comparison, receive or 
reject it. This consideration was, my dear friend, my sheet- 
anchor, in the fierce tempest of my doubt, which, for a time, 
threatened to sink my faith after my conversion to Protestant 
Christianity. When nearly overcome by a multitude of little 
infidel arguments (for they are all like a swarm of puny in- 
sects, and can never form a well-connected band, as the proofs 
of Christianity do,) I turned, in the anguish of my soul, to seek 
for a resting place, out of the "Rock of ages," Christ the Sa- 
viour. The view around me was dismal indeed ; a dark gulph, 
with small spots, every one of which I had tried, and found un- 
able to support me, and from which the fall, I well knew, 
would inevitably plunge me into the bottomless abyss of Athe- 
ism. It was in this distress of mind that I exclaimed with the 
Apostle Peter, To whom shall I go ? and clung to the cross of 
Christ. 

R. Your reasons appear to me very strong, and such, that 
no man who feels a real concern for his soul, can shut his eyes 
to them. I clearly understand that a living God — a God to 
whom the man who murders, and he who feeds the hungry; 
the man who oppresses, and he that protects the orphan and 
the widow,- the man who promotes virtue in his house and 
neighborhood, and he who spreads vice and misery for the 
gratification of his brutal passions, are not equally acceptable 
or indifferent ; cannot be supposed to have allowed a religious 
cheat, to appear so beautiful and desirable as true Christianity 
shews itself to every honest and upright heart. But what have 
you, sir, to say to the existence of so many false religions as 
there are in the world ? Would God permit them to exist, to the 
spiritual ruin of millions of men, if these matters were of real 
consequence in his eyes? 

A. Suppose yourself obliged to penetrate through a dark 
forest, full of wild beasts and precipices, and crossed by innu- 
merable paths. On the side by which your entrance lies, 
there stands the son of the king of the country, who with the 
greatest kindness offers to a great multitude of the new comers 
a little map, with a clear view of the paths, which he tells 
them, must lead to certain ruin; while others are distinctly 
marked, which if they carefully follow, he promises to meet 
them at the other side of the perilous wood, and make them 
rich and happy in his kingdom. You inform yourself, by every 
possible means, of the character of this man, and find no reason 
to doubt that he is able and willing to fulfil his engagements. 
Yet, upon observing great crowds of men and women, who are 



AGAINST POPERY. 



305 



allowed to enter with little or no advice respecting their way, 
you rather pertly begin to question the prince about them. 
He will not, however, condescend to answer these questions, 
but urges you to avail yourself of his advice, and to consider 
how unjust and unfeeling it is, when he takes such pains for 
your safety, to question his justice and benevolence in his 
conduct towards his apparently less favored subjects. Sup- 
pose, lastly, that your pride and conceit get the better of your 
reason, and that you address the prince in such words as these : 
" Sir, though I have no reason to suspect your veracity, yet 
your conduct towards those people whom I see wandering 
without maps, about the forest, is not at all to my fancy. You 
must, therefore, either explain to me every plan and reason 
of your government, or I will throw this map in your face, and 
trust my own endeavors to find my way through the forest." — 
Would you deserve compassion, if this your proud rashness 
carried you to inevitable perdition ? 

R. Certainly not : God forbid I should ever act in such an 
ungrateful manner. 

A. Yet this is exactly what men do, who object to their 
reception of the Gospel, that God has not made it equally 
known to all nations of the world. They, in fact, cast away 
the ' pearl of great price,' because they have been chosen 
amongst millions to possess it. They see the real and substan- 
tial value of the gift; they cannot but believe that he who puts 
it into their hands, must be infinitely kind and merciful; but 
still their pride will prevail, and they had rather be left to their 
own ignorance and weakness, than give glory to God for what 
they themselves receive, and trust that his goodness will, in 
some way, provide for his other creatures, and finally judge 
the world in righteousness. 

JR. I only put the question, because I have heard it from 
others. But, as to myself, I feel satisfied that every man's 
duty is to receive God's gifts with thankfulness, and without 
questioning the wisdom and justice of his government. I will, 
however, before we part, take the liberty to ask you why, 
when you became convinced of the truth of the Gospel, you 
did not return to your parents and friends in Spain ? Surely 
there cannot be such difference between Romanism and Pro- 
testantism, as to force a man to become a stranger and an out- 
cast to his own flesh and blood, and (as I believe you have 
done) turn his back upon all the hopes and prospects of life, 
and trust to chance for his subsistence. But perhaps, Sir, 
you have availed yourself of the liberty to marry, which 



306 



PRESERVATIVE 



Priests have in this country, and cannot leave your wife and 
children. 

A. You are mistaken, my friend, in your conjecture. I 
lost my health soon after my arrival in this country, and have 
not had the means of supporting a wife, in such comfort as 
might make her amends for devoting her life to the care of a 
sickly husband. But I do not like to speak upon these sub- 
jects, more than is absolutely necessary to remove all suspicion 
as to the motives of my change. My voluntary exile has been 
attended to me with every thing that can make me thankful, 
yet without any circumstance that could bribe my will against 
my sincerity. — As to the principal part of your question, I can 
assure you that the difference which I find between the Roman 
Catholic and the Protestant religion, is so great and important, 
that had there been no Protestantism in the world, I cannot 
conceive how I should be a Christian at this moment. 

R. Do you believe then, Sir, that the Roman Catholics are 
not Christians? 

A. I have known most sincere followers of Christ amongst 
them: but am perfectly convinced that Catholicism, by laying 
another foundation than that which is laid, that is Jesus Christ;* 
by making the Pope, with his church, if not the author, cer- 
tainly the finisher of their faith; exposes the members of that 
communion to the most imminent danger from the arguments 
of infidelity. What happened to me in my youth is the lot of 
a great part of the clergy, and the higher classes of Spain. 
The lower classes, and those who among the higher read little, 
and for that little confine themselves to the books approved by 
their church, are fierce bigots, who would, if they had it in 
their power, spread desolation and havoc among the nations 
who do not bend the knee before the saints and relics of Rome. 
But, amongst such as read and think for themselves, I seldom 
found a sincere christian. By the intolerance which Catho- 
licism exercises, wherever it is the religion of the country, 
those men are forced to be hypocrites; but they are generally 
so uneasy and restless under the restraint imposed on them by 
the threats of the law; that a very slight acquaintance with 
another unbeliever will be sufficient to open their hearts to 
each other, and make them attack, in private, with great vio- 
lence or levity, the most sacred mysteries of religion. There 
are few practical observations of my own, which I look upon 
with more confidence than the direct tendency of the Roman 
Catholic religion to produce infidelity. I suppose you either 
*1 Cor. Hi. 11. 



AGAINST POPERY. 



307 



recollect, or have heard, the almost universal contempt in 
which the christian religion was held in France during the 
Revolution. Now, had the French people been sincere chris- 
tians, as they appeared just before their revolution broke out, 
they could not possibly have been changed in a few months 
into such horrible infidels, as that there should have been a 
doubt in their sort of parliament, whether they were or not to 
pass a law against the belief in a God. Here, therefore, you 
may observe the common effects of Catholicism, where it has 
the upper hand. It first disfigures and distorts the gospel, so 
as to make it appear absurd and ridiculous in the eyes of men 
that are bold enough to use their judgments. Then it stops 
their mouths, and makes their thoughts rankle in their hearts, 
till when, at last, some great commotion releases them from 
the fears of religious tyranny, they abhor the very name of 
religion, under which they have been forced to bow to the 
most barefaced impostures and vexations ; and shake off, in 
desperate impiety, their allegiance to God; taking it to be one 
^nd the same thing with the yoke so long and heavily laid on 
their necks by the Pope and his emissaries. 

R. You think, then, Sir, that a Protestant is safer from the 
attacks of infidelity than a Roman Catholic. 

A. Incomparably safer. I do not, in matters of religion, 
much like illustrations or comparisons taken from subjects 
which may lead the mind to levity. But I cannot help com- 
paring the question between a Romanist and an Infidel to one 
of the bets which you call neck or nothing. As a Roman Cath- 
olic is bound to believe that the Scriptures would be useless 
without the infallibility of the Pope and his church, he must 
be ready to cast off the whole Bible, as soon as he shall be 
obliged to confess that there is the least error in their creed. 
The Romanist grounds his belief of the Bible on his belief in 
the Church of Rome ; the Protestant, on the contrary, grounds 
his respect for the church to which he belongs, on his belief 
of the Bible. The whole building of religion has been placed 
upside down by the Romanist, and the original foundations been 
made to stand upon the spires and pinnacles of the superstruc- 
ture. Knock one of these down, and the whole tumbles to the 
ground. It is not so with the Protestant. He also has a church ; 
but it is a church that leaves him free to try her authority by 
her conformity with the Scriptures. She does not, like Rome, 
teach her children that nothing can be true Christianity but 
what is professed under her control ; and that Christ will not 
acknowledge as his disciples such as learn his doctrines thro' 



308 



PRESERVATIVE 



any other channel. A true Protestant Church, rather than 
endanger the saving faith of her members, by riveting upon 
their minds the notion of no alternative between the absolute 
rejection of Christ, and perfect submission to her own declara- 
tions; will sacrifice every view of advantage to herself, and 
even afford matter of exultation to her implacable enemies, the 
Romanists, by leaving her members in perfect freedom to de- 
sert her, and choose their own christian guides. But God has 
rewarded this generous forbearance, by appropriating it to 
Protestant churches, and especially to our own, and making 
them wear it, as the badge by which men can know the true 
flock of Christ. " By this," says our Saviour, " shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one towards an- 
other." — " Thanks be to God ! (exclaims a pious and amiable 
Bishop* of our church, in one of the most eloquent passages to 
be read in any language,) thanks be to God, this mark of our 
Saviour is in us, which you (the Roman Catholics,) with our 
schismatics and other enemies want. As Solomon found the 
true mother by her natural affection, that chose rather to yield 
to her adversary's plea, claiming her child,! than endure that 
it should be cut in pieces ; so may it soon be found, at this day, 
whether is the true mother, our's, that saith, give her the liv- 
ing child, and kill him not; or your's, that if she may not have 
it, is content it may be killed, rather than want of her will. — 
4 Alas ! (saith our's, even of those that leave her) these be my 
children ! I have borne them to Christ in Baptism ; I have 
nourished them as I could with my own breasts, his Testa- 
ments. I would have brought them up to man's estate, as 
their free birth and parentage deserves. Whether it be their 

*Bishop Bedell. He was promoted in 1624, to the see of Kilmore, in 
Ireland. The spirit of retaliation, which the previous persecutions of Rome 
still kept alive, found the greatest opponent in Bishop Bedell. His meekness 
and universal charity had so gained him the hearts of the Irish Roman Catho- 
lics, that in the rebellion of 1641, the Bishop's palace was the only dwelling 
in the county of Cavan, which the fury of the rebels respected. As that palace 
was, however, the shelter of several Protestants whom the Papists had doomed 
to die, the Bishop, who firmly resisted the demands for their surrender, was 
seized and carried away with his whole family. The horrors which surround- 
ed him broke his heart, and he soon died. The very rebels, in a large body, 
accompanied his remains to the grave, over which they fired, in honor to his 
memory. — The passage above quoted is from a letter to a person who had 
turned Papist. I have copied it from The Friend, a work of Mr. S. T. 
Coleridge, which is much less known than its eloquence, piety, and learn- 
ing deserve. 

f Read the third chapter of the first book of Kings. 



AGAINST POPERY. 



309 



lightness, or discontent, or her enticing words, and gay shows,* 
they leave me ; they have found a better mother. Let them 
live yet, though in bondage. I shall have patience; I permit 
the care of them to their Father. I beseech him to keep them, 
that they do no evil. If they make their peace with him I am 
satisfied: they have not hurt me at all.' Nay, but saith your's 
(the Church of Rome) 4 1 sit alone as Queen and Mistress of 
Christ's family; he that hath not me for his mother, cannot 
have God for his father. Mine therefore are these, either born 
or adopted; and if they will not be mine, they shall be none.' 
So, without expecting Christ's sentence, she cuts with the tem- 
poral sword, hangs, burns, draws those that she perceives in- 
clined to leave her, or have left her already. So she kills with 
the spiritual sword those that submit not to her; yea thou- 
sands of souls, that not only have no means so to do, but many 
which never so much as have heard whether there be a Pope 
of Rome, or not. Let our Solomon be judge between them, — 
yea, judge you — more seriously and maturely, not by guesses, 
but by the very mark of Christ, which, wanting yourselves, 
you have unawares discovered in us : judge, I say, without 
passion and partiality, according to Christ's word, which is his 
flock, which is his church.' — Oh, my friend, if the deluded 
Protestants, who allow themselves to be entrapped by the cun- 
ning arts of Popery, knew, as I do, by a long and sad experi- 
ence, the proud, fierce, and tyrannous spirit of the Church to 
which they submit, by their recognition of the Pope and his 
laws ; they would weep with more bitter tears than Esau, the 
loss of that Christian liberty, which is the birth-right of every 
one who is born a Protestant. A true Roman Catholic is the 
slave of the slaves of the Pope, the priesthood, all over the 
world. If you hear them talk loud and boldly in these king- 
doms ; if they appear to you as free and independent as other 
men, they owe it to the Protestant laws, which protect them 
against the church tyranny to which their religion binds them. 
They owe it also to the cunning system pursued by the Pope 
himself, who, by allowing to them, in silence, this apparent 
freedom, acts like the huntsmen in India, who let their tame 
elephants roam at large in the forests, that they may entice 
the yet untamed and free into the pitfalls. No; trust them 
not! Had I a voice that could be heard from north to south, 
and from east to west, in these islands, I would use it to warn 

*The arts employed by the Church of Rome to gain proselytes, and her 
gaudy and showy Church service. 



310 



PRESERVATIVE AGAINST POPERY. 



every Protestant against the wiles of Rome ; wiles and arts in- 
deed, of so subtle and disguised a nature, that I feel assured, 
many of the free-born Britons, who are made the instruments 
and promoters of them, do not so much as dream of the snare 
into which they are trying to decoy their countrymen. Such 
as believe that Popery, if allowed to interfere with the laws of 
England, would not most steadily aim at the ruin of Protestant- 
ism, even at the plain risk of spreading the most rank infidel- 
ity, should be sent to learn the character of that religion where 
it prevails uncontrolled; where I have learnt it during five and 
twenty years, in sincere submission, and for ten in secret re- 
bellion. Would you form a correct idea of the character and 
spirit of that church which the Roman Catholics bind them- 
selves to obey, as they hope for salvation; of that church, to 
be free from whose grasp, I deem my losses clear gain, and 
my exile a glorious new birth to the full privileges of a man 
and a christian — grant me another patient hearing, at your 
own convenience, and you shall see the Pope's church, such 
as she is, and without the disguises in which she begs for 
power. 

R. I will hear you again, whenever you are disposed to 
speak on so important a subject. 



DIALOGUE II. 



Origin and true principles of Protestantism ; Calumnies of the Romanists 
against Luther ; Origin and Progress of the Spiritual Tyranny of the Pope ; 
Existence of true Protestants long before Luther; Persecution of the 
Vaudois and Albigenses ; Right Notion about the Church of which we 
speak in the creed. 

Reader. I cannot tell you, Sir, how anxious I have been 
for your return. 

Author. It cannot be more, my good friend, than I myself 
have been to come to you. But as I know that I must be eith- 
er a welcome or an unpleasant visitor, according as people 
dwell upon or reject the words of my first conversation ; I feel 
some misgivings within me when I approach them the second 
time. Now, I can tell you with a certainty, which I do not de- 
rive from any confidence in myself, but from my experience 
of the nature of truth, that since you have given some thought 
to the subject of our first conversation, you will with God's 
blessing, bear with me to the end of our conferences. 

jR. That I will, Sir, for I love the truth in all matters ; and 
much more so, of course, in those which concern my salvation. 
Now, I must tell you, my head has been at work upon things 
that I had never thought of before. When I formerly met my 
Roman Catholic neighbors, or saw their chapel, these things 
appeared to me as natural as the large yew-tree in our church- 
yard, or the holly-hedge before the Rector's house. There 
they are ; and I never troubled myself to know how they came 
there. But I now say to myself, I am a Protestant; and farm- 
er such a one is a Roman Catholic. The reason of this I 
know to be, that my father, and my father's father, and so on, 
were Protestants, and his were Catholics. But was this al- 
ways so ? How did this great division begin among christians 1 
I have, of course, heard of the Reformation, and of Luther, 
who, according to a little penny book, which is frequently 
hawked among the country folks, seems not to have been a 
good man ; for, it is said, he himself declares that the Devil 
taught him what he was to write against the Roman Catholics. 
I can hardly believe this to be true : I wish, Sir, you would 

311 



312 



PRESERVATIVE 



set me right, about the Protestant religion, and who it is that 
we Protestants follow : Is it Luther ? 

A. The Roman Catholics would fain persuade the world 
that Luther is the author of our religion j but it is to be hoped 
that their partiality deceives them, and that they do not use a 
deliberate untruth out of pure spite. Such as are really learn- 
ed among them, .cannot but know that Protestants acknowl- 
edge no master, on religious points, but Christ, whose instruc- 
tions they seek in the inspired writings of his Apostles and 
Evangelists, contained in the New Testament. It is, howev- 
er, a great shame that some learned men among the Roman 
Catholics, should employ themselves in writing and sending 
about such trash as The confessed Intimacy of Luther with Sa- 
tan, when they must know, in the first place, that the story is 
a downright misrepresentation ; and that, if Luther had really 
been the worst of men, (which is the very reverse of the truth) 
it would be the same, with regard to us Protestants, as if a thief 
had, by some strange chance, put an honest individual in the 
way of recovering a great fortune, which a cunning set of men 
had converted to their own profit. I wish you, my friend, to 
remember the comparison I have just given you, whenever 
the Roman Catholics, or those writers of no religion, whom 
they employ to seduce the unlearned, come to you with sto- 
ries about the wickedness of the Reformers, and the vices of 
Henry the Eighth. Surely, it is nothing to us by what instru- 
ments and what means God was pleased to deliver us from 
the impostures and tyranny of the Church of Rome, — of that 
Church, which, having seized our rightful inheritance, the 
Bible, doled it out in bits and scraps to the people, mixed up 
and adulterated with human inventions. It is for them to be 
ashamed of the men they reckon among their Popes : poison- 
ers, adulterers, and much worse still ; a fact which they will 
not venture to deny. It is for them, I say, to be ashamed, 
that they believe and declare that such men held the place and 
authority of Christ upon earth ; and that all Roman Catholics 
are bound still to believe their declarations, as if they had 
been given by Christ himself and his Apostles. We Protest- 
ants do not receive revealed truth through such channels. — 
We feel grateful, indeed, to the Protestant Reformers, all of 
whom, at the risk, and many at the expense of their lives, 
roused the attention of the Christian world, to the monstrous 
abuses which the Popes had introduced into the Church. Our 
Reformers encouraged the world to shake off the yoke of iron, 
which, in the name of Christ, the Popes had laid upon it; but 



AGAINST POPERY. 



313 



did not claim any authority over the Protestant Churches, sim- 
ilar to that which Rome had usurped. The great and essential 
difference between the Romanists and ourselves is this : — the 
Romish Church says to all christians, "Follow not the Scrip- 
tures, but me;" — the Protestant Church, on the contrary, says, 
"Follow me as long as I follow the Scriptures.' 1 Now, if Sa- 
tan himself had directed us to the pure fountain of Revelation, 
to the genuine word of God, would it not be our duty still to 
follow the Scriptures in preference to all human authority? 

R. But is there any foundation for the story which the Ro- 
man Catholics are so busy to spread among the poor people, 
that Luther used to converse with the Devil? 

A. No other foundation, my friend, than the spite which has 
rankled in the hearts of the Roman Catholic clergy, since 
Martin Luther opened the eyes of men to their spiritual tyran- 
ny. Luther was called by the Romanists, an instrument of 
the devil, and all his words were said to be put into his mouth 
by the Prince of Darkness. In this manner they tried to 
frighten the simple and ignorant, that they might stop their 
ears to the powerful arguments of the great Reformer. Well, 
then, said Luther, addressing himself to his calumniators, the 
Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church, see if you can answer 
the reasons by which the devil proved to me that the Mass is 
an idolatrous and unscriptural manner of worship; and he 
overwhelms the said Doctors with unanswerable reasons drawn 
from the holy scriptures. What better method could he em- 
ploy to refute their abominable and silly calumny, than by 
showing that what the Romanists attributed to the devil, was 
the true and genuine declaration of the word of God ? I have 
carefully examined the works of Luther, and can assure you 
that what the Roman Catholics circulate in their penny tracts, 
is a most ungrounded calumny. Were we mean enough to 
retaliate, we might give a history of their Popes — a history 
which they cannot gainsay, which would prove many of them 
to have been, not in communication with Satan, but possessed 
by him, body and soul. I will, however, mention to you one 
of them, a Spaniard by birth, whom the Roman Catholics 
acknowledge as the head of their Church, and whom they de- 
clare to have been the representative of Christ upon earth. 
The Pope I speak of, whose name is Alexander the Vlth, had 
four sons by a concubine, with whom he lived many years. 
The crimes he committed in order to enrich his children, ex- 
ceed those of the most wicked heathen Emperors. After a 
life of the most diabolical profligacy, he died of poison, which 
2 D 



314 



PRESERVATIVE 



he took by mistake, having prepared it for some person who 
stood in the way of his son. This happened only twelve 
years before Luther's appeal to the Scriptures, against a 
church which recognized the supreme authority of men like 
Pope Alexander, and blasphemously called them the Vicars 
of Christ upon earth. From this fact alone, you may judge 
on which side the devil was most likely to be. 

R. Good heaven, sir! have the Roman Catholics had such 
monsters for their Popes? 

A. They have, indeed, and not a few. 

R. And do they bind themselves to obey any one who may 
happen to be Pope, whether he be good or wicked? 

A. They certainly do, in all spiritual matters. I will ex- 
plain to you the whole Church-system of the Romanists in a 
few words. The Pope is their spiritual king; and what they 
call their Church, that is, their Bishops all over the world, is* » 
one may say, their Spiritual Parliament. Now, as this Par- 
liament of Bishops from all parts of the world cannot meet 
without great difficulty, and as no one but the Pope can call it , 
together, it is the Pope alone, who in reality, holds supreme ; 
authority over his spiritual subjects, the Roman Catholics. The 
way in which the Pope governs his churches all over the world 
is this : He publishes a kind of Proclamation, which they call 
a Bull, and sends it round to all places where there are Roman 
Catholics. As every Bishop by himself, is a subject of the 
Pope, who ealls himself the Bishop of Bishops, the bull must 
be obeyed by them. Every Bishop commands all his Priests 
to see that the orders of the Pope be obeyed by all those who 
are under their charge. The priests preach the necessity of 
complying with the orders of the Pope ; and when people come 
to get absolution of their sins, by privately confessing them, 
they are told that they cannot be forgiven, unless they obey 
the Bull from Rome. So, you see, that if all the world were 
true Roman Catholics, the Pope would do what he pleased eve- 
ry where. Such, in fact, was the case for many centuries be- 
fore the Reformation. The Popes, in those times, boldly de- 
clared that they had authority from God to depose kings from 
their thrones, and many a fierce war has been made in conse- ( 
quence of the ambition of the Popes, who wished all christian 
kings to recognize their authority. King John cf England 
was obliged by the Pope to lay his crown at the feet of a Priest 
who was sent to represent him. That king was, moreover, 
made to sign a public deed, by which he surrendered the 
kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, reserving to 



AGAINST POPERY. 



315 



himself the government of these realms under the control of 
the Bishops of Rome; and finally, as a mark of subjection, 
hound himself to pay an annual tribute. The Priest who rep- 
resented the Pope, took away the crown, and kept it five days 
from the King, to show that it was in the Pope's power to give 
it back or not, as he pleased. 

R. But did not you say, sir, that the Pope only claims au- 
thority in spiritual matters, that is, in things that concern the 
soul? 

A. Yes ; but as the soul is in the body, the Pope has always 
begun his spiritual government by things which are corporal 
and temporal. The Pope used to argue in this manner : "I am 
the Vicar and Representative of Christ upon earth, and the 
souls of all men are in my charge. There is a King in such 
a kingdom, (say England) who will not believe the doctrines 
whMi I teach. He naturally will spread his own religious 
views in that country ; and consequently it is my spiritual duty 
to take the crown off his head. His subjects (supposing them 
true and stanch Roman Catholics) are obliged, as they wish 
to save their souls, to obey my spiritual commands. I will, 
therefore, send a Bull, or Proclamation, desiring them not to 
acknowledge for their King a man, who, how well soever he 
may govern his temporal interests, is sure to ruin their spiritual 
concerns, and lead them all to eternal perdition." 

R. But is it a doctrine of the Pope, that all men who are 
not of his opinion, must be lost to eternity? 

A It is, indeed. It is an express article of their creed, 
which it is not in their power to deny, without being accursed 
by their own church, and ceasing to be Roman Catholics. 

R. I cannot comprehend how the Christians, all over the 
world, came to believe that men could not be saved unless they 
pinned their faith on the Pope and his Church. I believe, sir, 
no one doubted that point before the Reformation. 

A. So the Roman Cotholics give it out; but the true fact is 
not so. You must know that there exists a very ancient and 
numerous Church, which is called the Greek, which has never 
acknowledged the Pope. There are also the Churches of the 
Armenians and Ethiopians, which were established by the 
Apostles, or their early successors, and have no idea of the 
necessity of submission to the Pope, in order to be true chris- 
tians. Christianity, indeed, had been long established before 
the Popes bethought themselves of claiming spiritual dominion 
over all Christendom. But I will tell you how they accom- 
plished their usurpation, and you will see that the progress of 



316 



PRESERVATIVE 



their tyranny was perfectly natural. If you read the Acts 
of the Apostles, where we have the inspired history of the 
first Christian Churches, you will find no mention of any au- 
thority like that which Rome claims for herself and her head, 
the Pope. Rome, however, was at that time the mistress of 
the world, which was governed without control by the Roman 
Emperors. At first, those Roman Emperors made the fiercest 
opposition to Christianity; and the Christian Bishops of Rome, 
being persecuted, and in danger of their lives, had neither spirit 
nor leisure to imagine themselves superior to all other Bish- 
ops. But the persecutions ceased ; and the Emperors them- 
selves becoming Christians, the Bishops of Rome began to 
think themselves entitled to be that in the Church of Christ, 
all over the world, which the Emperors were in the whole 
Roman state. It was then that the idle and ungrounded re-, 
port that St. Peter had been Bishop of Rcme, grew up into a 
common belief : then it was said, that the Popes were St. Pe- 
ter's successors: that as St. Peter was the Head of the Apos- 
tles, so the Pope was the head of all Bishops : and that as Christ 
had said to St. Peter, that he was a rock, on which he would 
build his Church, every Pope, good, bad, or indifferent, must al- 
so be a rock, on which the whole of Christianity depends. The 
temporal power of Rome gave a certain color to these absurd 
fancies; for Rome was at that time, to the greatest and best 
part of the world, what London is now to England and all her 
possessions. People, you know, attach ideas of superiority to 
every thing that comes from the capital town of a great empire. 
It happened, however, that not long after the Popes had begun 
to hold up their heads in this way, the whole Roman Empire 
was invaded by immense armies of barbarous people, who 
broke in from the North, where they had till then lived in the 
forests, unconquered and untamed by any human power. In 
the course of a few centuries these barbarians became mas- 
ters of the Roman empire. They were all ignorant idolaters; 
but by mixing with christians, they were converted to Chris- 
tianity. The Christian Religion, indeed, though ever so dis- 
figured with the errors of those who profess it, is so holy, and 
has such power over the soul, that the barbarian conquerors 
of Europe could not but respect it. The Priests who worked 
in their conversion, were in the Pope's interest, and took care 
to instruct those ignorant men in all the false pretences on 
which the Bishops of Rome had built their assumed superior- 
ity. Every thing that the Roman Priests said was received 
as Gospel : for our forefathers (you should know that we are 



AGAINST POPERY. 



317 



all chiefly descended from those northern warriors) could nei- 
ther write nor read, and were more illiterate than the merest 
clown in our own times. Thus things proceeded for ages; 
whilst error grew more and more rooted as it descended from 
father to son. There were now and then a few men, who, 
notwithstanding the general ignorance, applied themselves to 
the study of the Scriptures, and some were bold enough to de- 
clare that the Popes were usurpers over Christian liberty. But 
the pretended successors of St. Peter were not so mild as that 
holy Apostle, who submitted to rebukes* ; but had grown into 
proud tyrants, who commanded all Christian princes to put to 
death everyone that dared to contradict Papal authority. Many 
massacres were committed by order of the Popes, and even 
good men were ready to dip their hands in the blood of those 
whom Rome had declared heretics. The spiritual usurpers 
had a great advantage in those times, when the art of printing 
was unknown Perhaps you are not aware, my friend, that 
for ages of ages, the only way that people had to publish bocks 
was to get them copied out by hand ; so that one hundred Bi- 
bles could not be procured under the expense of seven thou- 
sand days, or nearly twenty years' labor, which it was 
necessary to pay to the men who lived by writing out books. 
Consider then, the ignorance of the Scriptures in which the 
mass of the people must have lived, when none but very 
wealthy men could afford to purchase a Bible. 

The Romanists boast, to the ignorant and unlettered, that 
the religion of Rome had been acknowledged as the only true 
one over all the world ; and that it was uncontradicted till the 
time of Luther. In this they tell you what is not a fact; but 
observe besides, that the silence of the Christian people, till 
that period, is a poor sort of approbation, for it is the approba- 
tion of gross ignorance. In proportion as knowledge increased, 
so complaints and protestations against Rome became more 
frequent. But in every case they were answered by fire and 
sword. The Popish Clergy used, besides, another shameful 
trick. Whenever there arose a set of men who opposed their 
usurpations, they published the most infamous calumnies 
against their opponents, and charged them with the grossest 
crimes of the most filthy and disgusting lust. This they did 
in.the same manner, and on the same ground, that the old 
Pagans had done against the primitive Christians. For as 
both the early Christians, and the opposers of the tyranny of 
Rome, were obliged to avoid death by holding their religious 
*See St. Paul's Epistle to the Gallatians, c. ii. 

2d2 



31$ 



PRESERVATIVE 



assemblies in secret, their enemies made, the world believe 
that they did shut themselves up for vicious and infamous pur- 
poses. This trick was the more hateful, as ihe clergy of the 
Church of Rome, at that very time, were the mcst dissolute 
and profligate set that ever lived ; and this I can prove by the 
confession of their own writers. But Providence could not 
allow this state of things to continue much longer; and, as 
learning increased, so the opposition to Rcme grew stronger. 
From the beginning of the twelfth century, the numbers which 
in various and distant parts of Christendom, stood up against 
the errors and tyranny of the Popes, were every day upon 
the increase, and that in spite of the most fierce persecution 
on the part of the Romanists. The very means which were 
employed against them, however, contributed, under God's 
providence, to prepare the great defeat of the Papal See, 
which took place four hundred years afterwards by the preach- 
ing of Luther. As those who opposed the corruptions of Po- 
pery, were put to death, or spoiled of their property, and 
turned adrift upon the world, many of them took refuge in 
distant countries, such as Bulgaria, Hungary, and Bohemia, 
from whence their descendants, who had learned to hate the 
oppression of the Popes, returned in after times, and swelled 
the number of their opponents. There were also some clans 
or families of simple shepherds, who, like the highlanders of 
Scotland, had lived all along confined to the valleys of the 
mountains which separate France from Italy. They w ere so 
poor, and unknown, that the Popes had either been ignorant of 
their existence, or thought it not worth the trouble to teach 
them their adulterated Christianity; so that these happy rus- 
tics preserved, by means of their poverty and simplicity, the 
doctrines of Christ, such as they had received them from the 
early Christian Missionaries, who spread the Gospel before 
the Popes had disfigured it with their inventions. Their de- 
scendants live to this very day in the same spot, and are 
Protestants, notwithstanding the murders and burnings by 
which their sovereigns, the kings of Sardinia, strove, till very 
lately, to make them Romanists. An English Clergyman, 
whom I have the pleasure of knowing, visited those good peo- 
ple not long ago, and found them most excellent Protestants. 
They have their bishops, priests, and deacons, and agree 
with us of the Church of England, in every essential point of 
religious belief and practice. These simple, and truly primi- 
tive Christians, are known by the name of Vaudois. — Well, 
to return to my narrative : the persecuted opponents of the 



AGAINST POPERY. 



319 



Pope who returned from the lands of their exile, having joined 
with those who remained concealed in Europe, re-appeared in 
growing numbers, and were called Albigenses. Pope Inno- 
cent III. in the year 1198, despatched several priests with or- 
ders to destroy them wherever they might be found. One of 
those who made most havoc among them, is known and wor- 
shipped by the Roman Catholics, by the name of St. Domi- 
nic. He was the founder of the Inquisition, a court of judges 
whose only employment is to discover and punish those who 
reject the authority of the Church of Home. A large prov- 
ince of France had become, almost to a man, stanch oppo- 
sers of Popery. But the Pope promised remission of all their 
sins to the King of France and his Lords, if they would join 
to destroy his enemies. The horrors which the friends of the 
Pope committed in that war, exceeds all imagination. You 
may judge by what happened on the taking of a town called 
Bezieres. The Albigenses had shut up themselves in it, 
though there were also many Roman Catholics within its 
walls. The Pope's troops were on the point of storming it, 
when the doubt occurred to the soldiers, how they were to dis- 
tinguish the Papists from the Albigenses, in order to spare the 
first, without letting the Pope's enemies escape. A Priest, 
whom they consulted, answered them in these words : Kill 
them all! God will know his own. Upon hearing this the sol- 
diers entered the city, and put to the sword fifteen thousand 
persons. The same persecution, though not so fierce, was 
extended to Spain, and even to England, where thirty Albi- 
genses were starved to death at Oxford. 

R. I beg your pardon, Sir, for interrupting you ; but I am 
longing to know whether you believe that those unfortunate 
creatures were real Protestants like ourselves. 

A. They were certainly Protestants as far as opposition to 
the Pope's tyranny and usurpation over the Church of Christ 
is concerned, though I cannot answer for every point of doc- 
trine which they held. But consider, my friend, the circum- 
stances of those unhappy Christians. Their fathers had 
grown up under the dominion of the Popes, in an age of uni- 
versal ignorance. The Bible had been carefully kept from 
them, and it was with great difficulty and danger that they 
could meet to read some portions of it which had been transla- 
ted into their language. How then, could these poor people 
find out at once the truth, and avoid all sorts of errors, without 
competent and well-educated teachers, and left, as they were, 
to grope for the true Gospel, not only in the dark, but under all 



320 



PRESERVATIVE 



the irritation and fear of a violent persecution? You see that 
it was impossible. This was only the breaking out, through 
the thick clouds of Popery, of a beam of light which gradually 
increased till the appointed time when Luther and the great 
Reformer of England, were enabled to make a perfect sepa- 
ration of the truths contained in the Bible, from the errors in 
which the Church of Rome had involved them. My object in 
mentioning these facts is to show you, that in proportion as 
learning and an acquaintance with the Bible increased, the 
opposition to the Pope's encroachments grew; and that the Pa- 
pal Church was not without public opponents, but when igno- 
rance had overrun the world, and the Bible was unknown. — 
The present Pope is so well aware of this, that he has publish- 
ed a Bull against the English and Foreign Bible Society; be- 
cause wherever the Bible makes its appearance without his 
own notes and interpretations, it never fails to raise him ene- 
mies. Can that be the only true Church of God, whose great- 
est enemy is the pure word of God himself? 

R. Surely not, Sir. But was there no true Church of God 
from the time that Popery began, till the Reformation? I re- 
collect to have seen a Roman Catholic tract, where it was very 
strongly urged, that since Christ has promised that the gates 
of hell should not prevail against his Church, the Roman Cath- 
olic Church must all along have been in the right. 

A. That is a very common argument of the Romanists; 
but it has no foundation except their own fancies about the 
infallibility of the church. Our Saviour did not promise that 
any particular church should never err; but that the light of 
his Gospel should never be completely put out by the contriv- 
ances and attacks of hell. Such is the meaning, you well know, 
of Ihe words to prevail, or gain a victory. The light of reve- 
lation was very much dimmed and obscured, before Luther 
and the Reformers who established our Church. Others had, 
long before them, complained of the obscurity, and tried, as 
well as they could, to rekindle it; but the means of Providence 
were not yet ready. Learning was very scarce till the inven- 
tion of printing multiplied all sorts of books, and put the Bible 
into the hands of many. The printing-press had been spread- 
ing knowledge far and wide for about seventy years, when Lu- 
ther raised his voice, and the light of the Gospel shone again 
in its full splendor. The candle was the same that Christ 
had set on the candlestick; the Pope had hid it under a bushel; 
but Luther, despising the threats of the spiritual tyrant, took it 
out of his keeping, and made it shine again as free as when the 



AGAINST POPERY. 



321 



Apostles held it up to the eyes of the world. Whoever atten- 
tively considers the state of the Gospel before the Reformation, 
must be convinced that Luther was the instrument by which 
Christ prevented the victory of Satan over his Church. 

R. I am always at a loss when I would clearly understand 
what is meant by the Church. Where is that Church against 
which Christ tells us that Satan shall not prevail? 

A. Let me answer you by a question, though I fear it will 
appear to you rather out of the way. Where is the plough 
that we pray God to speed ? 

R. Oh, Sir! we do not mean any particular plough. We 
only pray God to prosper and bless the labors of man to pro- 
duce the staff of life. 

A. Very well. Now, suppose that God had in the Scrip- 
tures promised, that evil should never prevail against the 
'plough. What would you understand by such words ? 

R. I believe that they would mean that there should never 
be a famine over all the world, or that all the crops should 
never fail at once, so that it would be impossible to grow any 
more grain. 

A. And what would you think if a club of farmers, with a 
rich man at their head, had established themselves in London, 
and wished to have a monopoly of all the corn on earth, say- 
ing to the government, "you must go to war to defend our 
rights : for God has said, that evil shall not prevail against 
the plough; — and who can be the plough, but the head and 
company of farmers of the county of Middlesex, wherein 
stands the great city of London, which is the first city of the 
world?" 

R. I should certainly say that they were a set either of 
madmen or rogues, who wished to levy a tax upon all farmers, 
wherever they were. 

A. I will now leave you to apply what we have said, to the 
use which the Pope and his Cardinals have made of Christ's 
promise, that Satan should not prevail against his Church. 
Church, in this passage, must be understood in the sense in 
which we understand Plough, speaking of agriculture in gen- 
eral. It must mean Christianity in general; not Christianity 
confined to the walls of any town: the meaning, therefore, of 
Christ's promise must be, that the Devil shall never succeed 
in abolishing the faith in God through Christ, which has 
been published in the Gospel ; not that the Pope must always 
be in the right, — and much less that he is to be the Spiritual 
Lord of all the Christians on earth. 



322 



PRESERVATIVE 



R. I can understand very well, that the promise of Christ 

cannot be confined to the Church cf Rome. But yet, Sir, is 
not the Church of Rome the Catholic Church ; and do we not 
say in the Creed, that we believe in the holy Catholic Church? 
One might suppose that, by these words, we bind ourselves to 
believe in the Church of Rome. 

A. The Romanists, my friend, have on that point, as on 
many others, taken an unfair advantage, which they employ 
to seduce the simple. Catholic, you must understand, is a 
word which means universal. Just at the times when the 
Apostles, and their immediate followers, had preached the Gos- 
pel to all the world, their doctrine was Catholic, that is univer- 
sal. Wherever there were Christians, their belief was the 
same; and as that belief exactly agreed with the doctrines of 
the Apostles, Catholic, or universal belief, was the same as 
true belief. Errors, however, began very soon to multiply in 
the Christian Churches, and these errors were called heresies, 
which means, separations; because those who set up their 
own conceits as the doctrine cf the Gospel, separated them- 
selves from the universal belief, which at that time was the 
true one. These heresies or separations became, in course of 
time, so numerous, that the true Christian belief could no 
longer be called Catholic or universal, with respect to the num- 
ber of Christians who held it; so that to say I believe in the 
Holy Catholic Church, was not the same as if one said, I be- 
lieve in the true Church. You will, therefore, observe a 
change on this point, in the creed which is used in the Com- 
munion Service — a creed which the Roman Catholics receive, 
and which is about fifteen hundred years old. In that creed it 
was found necessary to add the word Apostolic to the word 
Catholic; and consequently, we find there, "J believe in one 
Catholic and Apostolic Church :" which is as much as to say, 
I believe that there is spread over the world a true church 
of Christ, which was known in the beginning of Christiani- 
ty, by its being Catholic or Universal; but which, since error 
became more general than the true faith, must be known by its 
being Apostolic. By this you will perceive the artful contri- 
vance of the Romanists, who knowing that what in the times 
of the Apostles was Catholic, was therefore true Christianity, 
wish us to call them Catholics in the same meaning, even after 
Rome had made her errors so common in the world, that they 
appeared at one time to be Catholic, that is, universal. Protes- 
tants, therefore should be aware of this trick, and never call 
them Catholics, but Roman Catholics, Romanists, or Pajnsts; 



AGAINST POPERY. 



323 



though as this last name seems to hurt their feelings, I seldom 
make use of it myself, and never with an intention to offend 
them. Every one, my friend, all over the world, who holds 
the pure doctrine of the Apostles, — every Apostolic Christian 
is a true Catholic, — a member of that one true Church which 
the Apostles made Catholic or universal; but which continued 
being universal a very short time. The members of that he- 
retical, that is, particular Church of the Pope, — that Church 
of the individual city of Rome, cannot be Catholic or univer- 
sal, except as far as they are Apostolic. 

R. And how, Sir, are men to judge what Christian churches 
are Apostolic ? 

A. By the words of the Apostles and their Divine Master, 
which we have in the New Testament. 

JR. But does not the Church of Rome receive the Scrip- 
tures ? 

A. She does ; and so far as she regulates her doctrine and 
practice by that standard, we believe her to be a part of the 
true universal Church of Christ. But in regard of her inven- 
tions, whereby she has nearly made void the spirit and power 
of the Gospel, we are bound to declare her a corrupt and he- 
retical Church; a church which has degenerated from the 
Apostolic rule of faith, and, in proportion to the additions 
which out of her own fancy she has made the Gospel, has 
separated herself from the one Catholic, or universal church 
of Christ; which is that multitude of persons, of all times 
and countries, who being called by the grace of God to be- 
lieve in his Son Jesus Christ, have conformed and do now 
conform, their faith and lives to the rule of the Scriptures, and 
ground their hopes of eternal salvation on the promises made 
therein. 

R. I believe you said, Sir, that the Church of Rome has 
made additions to the Gospel out of her own fancy : has she 
also made any omissions in the articles of her faith? 

A. No. It pleased Providence to preserve the whole of the 
Christian faith in her keeping, without diminution or curtail- 
ment. The true Gospel was thus kept entire during the ages 
of general ignorance, under the heap of her superstitions, 
like live seeds, which want nothing to spring up, but the re- 
moval of some layer of stones and rubbish. Had she been 
permitted to cast off some of the essential articles of the 
Apostolic doctrine, as other sects do, the work of the Refor- 
mation would have been difficult. But when Luther and the 
other Reformers had removed the superstitious additions of 



324 



PRESERVATIVE. 



the Romanists, the whole truth, as it is in Christ, appear- 
ed in its original purity ; and as both Rome and the Pro- 
testant Churches agree in every thing which is really a 
part of the Apostolic doctrine, we cannot be charged with 
innovation. 

R. Yet they say that ours is a new religion. 

A. Any Protestant may rebut that charge with the Bible in 
his hand. The New Testament is the original charter of 
Christians; any thing under the name of Christianity which 
we do not find there, must be an abuse of more modern date 
than the Charter. The additions made by the Church of 
Rome are it is true very old ; but the foundations over which 
she has built her fantastic structure must be older still. That 
foundation, the Testament, is our religion, and we do not wish 
to prove our religion older than Christ. 

R. I wish you would have the goodness to mention the ad- 
ditions and innovations which the Church of Rome has made 
to the true and Scriptural religion of Christ. 

A. I will, with great pleasure, in our next conversation. 



DIALOGUE III. 



of the Church of England and of the Roman Catholic Church com- 
pared ; some Account of the Innovations made by Rome : Tradition : 
Transubstantiation : Confession : Relics and Images. 

Author. I promised, at our last meeting, to give you an 
account of the innovations which the Church of Rome has 
made, and the human additions by which she has adulterated 
the pure doctrines of the Gospel. But before I begin, I must 
ask your opinion upon a case which I heard some time ago* 

Reader. I will give it you, Sir, to the best of my knowledge. 

A. The people of two neighboring islands, which acknowl- 
edged the authority of the same Sovereign, received each a 
governor from the metropolis. One of the Governors present- 
ed himself with his commission in one hand, and with the book 
of the Colonial Laws in the other. " Gentlemen," he said, 
" here is the King's commission, which authorizes me to govern 
you according to these laws. I will direct my officers to get 
them printed, and every one of you shall have a copy in his 
possession. If ever any one of you should think that I am 
stepping beyond my powers, or governing against the laws, he 
may examine the point and consult his friends about it; and 
if, after all, he feels inclined not to be under me any longer, 
I will not at all molest him in his removal to the neighboring 
island, carrying away every thing that belongs to him." The 
other Governor pursued quite a different course. He appeared 
in the capital with all the pomp and show of a King. He gave 
out, that he had authority from the Sovereign, not only to 
govern according to the standing laws, but to make new sta- 
tutes at his will and pleasure. At the same time, he employed 
his officers to deprive the people of all the copies of the Colo- 
nial Laws that were to be found, and published heavy penal- 
ties against any one who should possess or read them without 
leave, or in a copy which had not his own interpretation of 
the statutes. Some high-spirited individuals presented a peti- 
tion to the new Governor, stating, " that they were perfectly 
willing and ready to obey any one commissioned by their 
King; but, still they conceived themselves entitled to possess a 
2E 325 



326 



PRESERVATIVE 



copy of the laws of the country ; that if the Monarch himself 
had empowered him to make additional laws, they would make 
no objection to that, provided he showed an authentic copy of 
his commission." The Governor grew quite furious upon 
reading this remonstrance, and answered that he would not 
show any document relating to his power of making new laws ; 
that the king had conferred upon him this privilege, not in 
writing, but by a message ; and, finally, that if the petitioners 
did not obey him in silence, he would employ force against 
them. — " Do, Sir, but prove to us your commission from the 
King, and we are ready to obey without a murmur." — " Take 
those fellows," said the Governor, " and let them die by fire." 
The order being executed, a number of citizens tried to escape 
from the island, but troops were stationed at every port and 
creek, and such as were found in the act of getting away were, 
without mercy, put to the sword or confined to dungeons, till 
they swore that they w r ould receive whatever the Governor 
commanded, as if it had been a part of the book of the laws. 
To complete the picture of this Governor, I will tell you that 
there was not one among the laws which he added to the writ- 
ten statutes of the colonies, but evidently procured both to him 
and to his officers, an increase of wealth and power. — The 
question I wish you to answer is, under which of these two 
Governors would you advise a man to place himself? 

R. I answer withotit a doubt, — under the first. 

A. What! without any further inquiry; without examining 
the book of colonial laws ; without hearing the reason of the 
other governor? 

R. If I understood you rightly, the tyrant Governor (for he 
deserves no better name) does not wish to settle the matter by 
reasoning: he wishes to be believed on his word, and puts to 
death even those who would avoid his power by flight. He 
must be an imposter, — an usurper, who grounds his authority 
on his own word, and his word on his tyranny. 

A. Oh, my friend, how justly you have given your verdict ! 
The Pope is the man. My parable applies literally to the 
case between the Roman Church and the Protestants. We, 
the Protestant Clergy, declare to the world, that our Bishops, 
Priests, and Deacons, have no authority but what the Scrip- 
tures confer upon us, for the instruction and edification of the 
people. We show them our commission in the book of God's 
word, and leave them to judge whether they are bound or not 
to listen to our instructions. If any one wishes to leave us, 
he is at liberty to do so: we use no arts, no compulsion to keep 



AGAINST POPERY. 



327 



any one within the pale of our church. To those who remain 
under our guidance we give no other rule or law but the Scrip- 
ture ; our articles declare that nothing contained in them is to 
be believed on any other consideration, but the clear warrant 
of the Holy Scriptures. But hear the conditions which the 
Pope presents to mankind : " Come to me," he says, " as you 
wish to be saved; for none can escape the punishment of hell 
who reject my authority." I ask him for the proof that God 
has limited Salvation, by making it pass exclusively through 
his hands. He answers me, that he has received the power 
of interpreting the Scriptures, and adding to them several 
articles of faith : and that 5 by virtue of that power, I must be- 
lieve what he affirms. I rejoin, that if the Scriptures said 
that the Bishop of Rome and his Church were to be the infal- 
lible interpreters of the written word of God, and that they 
had power to add to the laws therein contained, I should be 
ready to obey; but since the Scriptures are silent upon a point 
of such importance, I will not believe the Pope, who is the 
party that would gain by the forced interpretation of those 
passages on which he wishes to build his power over the whole 
church. He now grows angry, and calls me a heretic, pro- 
testing that the Scripture is clear as to his being the head of 
the church and Vicar of Christ. Are the Scriptures so clear 
in favor of your authority, my Lord the Pope? Why, then, 
are you and yours so alarmed when you see the Scriptures in 
the hands of the people? If your commission from God is 
clear, why do you not allow every man, woman, and child to 
read it? Because (says the Pope) they are ignorant. — Igno- 
rant, indeed ! is the meanest child too ignorant to know the 
person whom his father appoints to teach him? Is a stranger 
to drag a child away and keep him under his control without 
the father saying, " this is to be your teacher; I wish you to 
obey him like myself?" The only thing, in fact, which the 
child can perfectly understand, is the appointment of the per- 
son who is to be his tutor : and are we to be told that because 
the mass of Christians are children in knowledge, they must 
blindly believe the man who presents himself, rod in hand, say- 
ing to them, " follow me, for I have a letter of your father's in 
which he desires you to be under my command ?" " Shew me 
the letter," says the Christian. "You are a silly babe," says 
the Pope, " and must let me explain the letter to you." "Yes," 
says the Christian, " but all 1 want is to see that my father 
mentions your name, and desires me to obey you." "No:" 
is the Pope's answer; "my name is not in the letter, but St. 



328 



PRESERVATIVE 



Peter's name is there : St. Peter was at Rome, and I am at 
Rome, and therefore it is clear that you must obey me." — 
" But tell me, I pray you, my Lord the Pope, does the letter 
say even that St. Peter was ever at Rome!" "No; but I tell 
you he was," says the Holy Father. " Still another question : 
is it in the letter that Peter was to govern all Christians more 
than any other of the Apostles as long as he lived?" " The 
letter does not say it, but I do." " So it seems that all your 
authority must depend, not upon any command of my heavenly 
Father, but upon your own word. If so, I will not follow you; 
but put myself under instructors who will read my Father's 
words to me, without requiring from me more than I find there- 
in enjoined." Happy, my friend, is that Christian who can 
speak thus out of the Pope's grasp; for he is a fierce school- 
master, and would tear the skin off any one's back who should 
not take his word on points relating to his authority. You 
know that I should be made to endure a lingering; death, for 
what I say to you at this moment, if the Pope or his spiritual 
subjects, could lay hold on me in any part of the world, but 
where Protestants are in a sufficient number to protect me. 

R. I see, Sir, that the Pope is just like the proud, usurping 
Governor you described. He grounds his claims on his own 
authority, and supports his authority by the sword. But what 
strikes me above all, is his fear of the Scriptures. If the 
Scriptures were favorable to him, he would not object to their 
free circulation. I believe you said that the Pope had intro- 
duced many things in the Church which are not to be found in 
the Scriptures. 

A. Very man}' - , indeed ; and what is still more remarkable, 
not one of which but is decidedly to his own profit. Here again 
the comparison between the Pope and the Protestant clergy is 
enough to decide any rational man in doubt what Church to 
follow. Any one who is capable of making the comparison, 
will clearly perceive, that on whatever points the Church of 
Rome and the Protestant Churches (especially ours of England) 
agree, the Scriptures are their common foundation. But as 
soon as they begin to disagree, the Church of Rome is seen 
striving after wealth and power in the articles which she adds 
to the Scriptures ; while the Protestant clergy evidently relin- 
quish both emolument and influence, by their refusal to follow 
the Romanists beyond the authority of the word of God. I 
will give you instances of this, as I proceed in the enumeration 
of the principal points of difference. 

Tradition is one of the most essential subjects of dispute be- 



AGAINST POPERY. 



329 



tween Protestants and Romanists. The Romanists declare 
that the Scriptures alone, are not sufficient for Salvation; but 
that there is the word of God, by hearsay, which is superior to 
the word of God in writing. By this hearsay, for tradition is 
nothing else, they assure the world that the Scripture must be 
explained; so that if the Scripture says white, and tradition 
says black, a Roman Catholic is bound to say, that white means 
black in God's written word. 

R. But, sir, how can they be sure of that hearsay or tra- 
dition? Every one knows how little we can depend upon 
reports. 

A. They pretend a kind of perpetual inspiration, a miracu- 
lous knowledge which can distinguish the true from the false 
traditions. The existence, however, of that miracle, people 
must take upon their assertion. 

R. And who do they say has that miraculous knowledge? 

A Their divines are not well agreed about it. Some say 
the miracle is constantly worked in the Pope; others believe 
that it does not take place but when the Pope and his Bishops 
meet in council. 

R. Then, after all, the Romanists cannot be certain at any 
time that the miracle has taken place. Would it not be better 
to abide by the Scriptures, and judge of those hearsays or tra- 
ditions by what we certainly know to be God's word? 

A. That is exactly what we Protestants do. 

R. Yet one difficulty occurs to me. Is it not by a kind of 
hearsay or tradition that we know the New Testament to have 
been really written by the Apostles and Evangelists ? 

A. What then? 

R. You see, sir, that tradition seems to be a good ground of 
Faith. 

A. Now tell me : if you had the title-deeds of an estate, 
which had descended from father to son, till they came into 
your possession, what would you say to an attorney who should 
come to you with a hearsay, that the original founder of the 
estate had desired his descendants to submit their lands and 
chattels to the family of the said attorney, that they might keep 
it and manage it for ever, explaining every part of the title- 
deeds according to the traditional knowledge of their family? 

R. I should be sure to show him the way out of my house, 
without hearing another word about his errand. 

A. Yet he might say, your title-deeds are only known to be 
genuine by tradition. 

R. Yes, sir; but the title-deeds are something substantial, 
2e2 



330 



PRESERVATIVE 



which may be known to be the same which my father receiv- 
ed from my grandfather, and again my grandfather from his 
father, and so on; but there is no putting seals or marks on 
flying words. 

A. Well, you have answered most clearly one of the strong- 
est arguments by which the Romanists endeavor to foist their 
traditions on the world. As long as the Christians who had 
received instructions from the mouth of the Apostles were 
alive, St. Paul, for instance, might say to the Thessalonians, 
"Hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by 
word or our epistle;"* because they could be sure that the 
words they had heard were St. Paul's; but what mark could 
have been put on these unwritten words, to distinguish them 
as the true words of the Apostle, after they had passed through 
the hands of three or four generations? 

R. What is, after all, the advantage which the Pope derives 
from these traditions ? 

A. They are to him of the most essential service. With- 
out tradition, his hands would be tied up by Scripture; but, by 
placing the Scripture under the control of these hearsays, the 
Pope and his Church have been able to build up the monstrous 
system of their power and ascendancy. You know that one 
of the principal articles of the Roman Catholics is transub- 
stantiation. This article would be searched for in vain in the 
Scriptures; for though our Saviour said of the bread, "this is 
my body;" and of the wine, "this is my blood," the Apostles 
could not understand these words in a corporal sense, as if 
Christ had said to them that he was holding himself in his own 
hands. Consequently, St. Paul did not believe that the bread 
and wine were converted into the material Christ, by the 
words of consecration ; but though he calls these signs the com- 
munion of the body and blood of Christ, he also calls them 
Bread and cup.j The Romanists, however, found out that by 
making the people believe, that any Priest could make Christ 
come to his hands, by repeating a few words, they should enjoy 
a veneration bordering upon worship, from the laity. But 
how could this be done without the help of tradition ? The 
people were therefore told that the Pope knew by tradition, 
that after the words of consecration, every particle of bread 
and wine was converted into the body and soul of our Saviour : 
that if you divide a consecrated wafer \ into atoms, every one 

* 2 Thess. ii. 15. 1 1 Cor. x. 16. 

X The Roman Catholics use not common bread for the Sacrament, but a 
white wafer with the figure of a cross made upon it, by the mould in which 



AGAINST POPERY. 331 

of those atoms contains a whole God and man ; and that the 
presence is so material, that (I really shudder when I repeat 
their most irreverent language) if, as it has happened some- 
times, a mouse eats up part of the consecrated bread, it cer- 
tainly eats the body of Christ; and that, if a person should be 
seized with sickness, so as to throw up the contents of his sto- 
mach immediately after receiving the sacrament, the filth 
should be gathered up carefully and kept upon the altar : — this 
I have seen done. I could relate many more absurdities, 
which would shock any but a Roman Catholic, to whom habit 
has made them familiar. I must not, however, give up this 
subject without pointing to the advantages which the doctrine 
of Transubstantiation brings to the Roman Catholic Clergy, 
that you may see the use they make of tradition. 

I have already told to you the superstitious veneration which 
the Roman Catholics pay to their Priests. A Priest, even 
when raised to that office from the lowest of the people, is en- 
titled to have his hands kissed with the greatest reverence by 
every one, even a Prince of his communion. Children are 
taught devoutly to press their innocent lips upon those hands 
to which, as they are told, the very Saviour of mankind, who 
is in heaven, comes down daily. The laws of the Catholic 
Countries are, with regard to Priests, made according to the 
spirit of these religious notions : — -a Priest cannot be tried by 
the judges of the land for even the most horrible crimes. Mur- 
ders of the most shocking nature have often been perpetrated 
by priests in my country ; but I do not recollect an instance of 
their being put to death, except when the murdered person 
was also a Priest. I knew the sister of a young lady who was 
stabbed to the heart at the door of the church, where the mur- 
derer, who was her confessor, had, a few minutes before, giv- 
en her absolution! He stabbed her in the presence of her 
mother, to prevent the young lady's marriage, which was to 
take place that day. This monster was allowed to live, because 
he was a Priest. — What but the belief in transubstantiation 
could secure to the clergy impunity of this kind? Even in 
Ireland, where the law makes no difference between man and 
man, a Priest can take liberties with the multitude, and exert 
a despotic command over them, which the natural spirit of the 
Irish would not submit to from the first nobleman in the king- 
dom. For all this, the Catholic clergy have to thank tradition; 



the wafer is baked. By this means they remove the appearance of bread, 
which would be too striking and visible an argument against their doctrine. 



332 



PHESERVATITE 



for without that pretended source of Revelation, it woud have 
been impossible to make whole nations believe that a Priest 
(as they declare) can turn a wafer into God. 

R. Was it not in the power of the Reformers to have pre- 
served the same veneration to themselves, by encouraging the 
belief in transubstantiation? 

A. It was so much in their power, that even after England 
had shaken off the authority of the Pope, many were burnt 
alive for denying the corporal presence of Christ in the Sac- 
rament. The mass of the people were so blind and obstinate 
upon that point, that not one of the Protestant Martyrs of the 
reign of Queen Mary, but could have saved his life by declar- 
ing in favor of transubstantiation. Nothing, indeed, but an al- 
most supernatural courage, and an apostolic love of revealed 
truth, could have enabled the Protestant clergy to oppose and 
subdue the Romanist doctrine of the Sacrament. 

R. I believe, sir, that the doctrine you speak of, was valu- 
able to the clergy in other respects. 

A. It was, and is still to the Romanist Priesthood, a never- 
failing source of profit. The notion that they have the power 
of offering up the whole living person of Christ, whenever they 
perform mass, paved the way to the doctrine which makes the 
mass itself a repetition of the great sacrifice of Christ upon the 
cross. Under the idea that the Priest who performs the blood- 
less sacrifice, as they call it, can appropriate the whole benefit 
of it to the individual whom he mentions in his secret prayer 
before or after consecration, the Roman Catholics are eager 
all over the world, to purchase the benefit of masses for them- 
selves ; to obtain the favor of Saints, by having the masses dene 
in their praise ; and finally, to save the souls of their friends 
out of Purgatory, by the same means. 

R. I have heard a great deal about Purgatory ; but I do not 
exactly understand what the doctrine is which the Romanists 
hold about it. 

A. They believe that there is a place very like hell, 
where such souls as die, having received absolution of their 
sins, are made to undergo a certain degree of punishment; 
like criminals who, being saved from the gallows, are kept to 
hard work as a means of correction. There is a strong mix- 
ture of a very ancient heresy in the religious system of the ( 
Catholics, which leads them to attribute to pain and suffering, 
the power of pleasing God. It was that notion that first pro- j 
duced the idea of purgatory ; and it is the same notion that in- 
duces the devout and sincere among them almost to kill them- 



AGAINST POPERY. 



333 



selves with stripes, and flogging, with fasts, and many other 
self-inflicted penances. 

R. I have heard that the heathen in India do the same. 

A. The religious practices of those heathen, and many 
among the Roman Catholics, are remarkably similar. But 
we must not lose sight of the offspring of Roman Catholic tra- 
dition, and the profitable account to which the Church of Rome 
has turned it. Tradition alone must have been brought to the 
aid of Purgatory. But the doctrine once being received by 
the people, became a true gold mine to the Pope and his priest- 
hood. This was obtained by teaching the Roman Catholics, 
that the Pope, as Vicar of Christ, had the power to relieve or 
release the souls in Purgatory, by means of what they call in- 
dulgences. These indulgences were made such an open mar- 
ket of, throughout Europe, before the Reformation, that kings 
and governments, even such as were stanch Catholics, bitter- 
ly complained that the Popes drained their kingdoms of money. 
Incalculable treasures have flowed into the lap of the Roman 
Catholic clergy, for which they have to thank the doctrine of 
Purgatory. The reason is clear, the Pope knew too well his 
interest, not to tack the doctrine of Transubstantiation and the 
Mass on that of the souls in Purgatory fire. If a mass, they 
said, is a repetition of the great sacrifice on the cross, and it is 
in the power of the Priest to apply the benefit of it to any one, 
then, by sending such a relief to a soul in Purgatory, that soul 
has the greatest chance of being set free from those burning 
flames, and of entering at once into heaven. Who that believes 
this doctrine will spare his pocket when he thinks that his 
dearest relations are asking the aid of a mass to escape out of 
the burning furnace ! You will find, accordingly, that no Ro- 
man Catholic who can afford it, omits to pay as many priests as 
possible to say masses for his deceased relations and friends ; 
and that the poor of that persuasion, both in England and Ire- 
land, establish clubs for the purpose of collecting a fund, out of 
which a certain number of masses are to be purchased for each 
member that dies. Their accounts are regularly kept, and if 
any member dies without having paid his subscription, he is 
allowed to be tormented to the full amount of his debt in the 
other world, where the difference between rich and poor, ac- 
cording to these doctrines, is greater than in this life. A rich 
man may sin away, and settle his debt with masses ; the poor 
must be a beggar even at the very gates of heaven, and trust 
to his savings properly kept and improved by a club, or to the 



334 



PRESERVATIVE 



charity of the rich, to escape out of that Purgatory which you 
may properly call the Debtor's side of hell. 

R. Perhaps the Romanists will say that God will not allow 
the rich people to get off by the great number of masses, but 
will give the benefit of them to the poor. 

A. So they say, when the abusurdity of their doctrine stares 
them in the face. But even this contrivance to evade the dif- 
ficulty objected to their doctrine, has been turned into an in- 
crease of profit to the clergy. " Since," it is said, " no man 
can be certain that one or more masses, indulgences, or any 
of the various Purgatory bank-bills, will be allowed to avail 
the person for whom they are purchased, it behoves those who 
have worldly means to repeat the remittance as often as pos- 
sible, that your friend or yourself may at last have his turn." 
You see, therefore, that even the doubts which might have en- 
dangered the sale of the Popish wares, are made by an effort 
of ingenuity' to increase demand in the market. Without the 
fresh discovery, that God appropriates to the more deserving 
poor the masses and indulgences sent to the wealthy dead, a 
mass or plenary indulgence a head, would be more than suffi- 
cient to keep purgatory empty. The case is very different 
when you are acquainted with the doubt in which you must 
be left as to the effect of your purchases; so that, if possible, 
you must continue them forever. 

R. What do you mean by indulgences? 

A. That wonderful storehouse of knowledge, Tradition, 
has informed the Popes that there is somewhere an infinite 
treasure of spiritual merits, of which they have the key ; so 
that they may give to any one a property in them, to supply 
the want of their own. A man, for instance, has been guilty 
of murder, adultery, and all the most horrid crimes, during a 
long life; but he repents on his death-bed ; the Priest gives him 
absolution, and his soul goes to Purgatory. There he might 
be for millions of years; but if you can procure him a full 
or plenary indulgence from the Pope, or if he obtained it before 
death, all the merits which he wanted are given him, and he 
flies direct to heaven. 

R. Sir, are you really in earnest . 

A. You have only to look into the London Roman Catholic 
Directory, and will find the appointed days, when every indi- 
vidual of that persuasion is empowered by the Pope to liber- 
ate one soul out of Purgatory, by means of a plenary indul- 
gence. These indulgences are sold in Spain by the King, 
who buys them from the Pope, and retails them with great pro- 



AGAINST POPERY. 



335 



fit. I have told you, my friend, and will continue to prove it, 
that there is not a doctrine for which the Church of Rome con- 
tends against the protestants, but is a source of profit or pow- 
er (which comes to the same) in the hands of the clergy. In- 
deed, I could fill volumes upon this subject; but time presses, 
and I must not omit saying a few words about confession. Do 
you not perceive, in an instant, that whoever has a man's 
conscience in his keeping, must have the whole man in his 
power? 

R. It appears to me impossible to doubt it; and, in fact, the 
better the man, the more he must be in the power of his priest, 
for the Priest is his conscience, and the good man is most anx- 
ious to follow that which conscience suggests. 

A. Never, my good friend, was a plan of usurpation and 
tyranny set up that can equal that of the Church of Rome in 
boldness. Her object is to deprive men both of their under- 
standing and their will, and make them blind tools of her own. 
She proclaims that the perfection of faith consists in reducing 
one's mind to an implicit belief in whatever doctrines she holds, 
without any examination, or with a previous resolution to abide 
by her decision whether, after examination, they appear to 
you true or false. She then declares a renunciation of one's 
conscience into the hands of her Priests, the very height of 
human perfection. Let those who in England are trying eve- 
ry method of disguising the Roman Catholic doctrine, shew a 
single pious book of common reputation in the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, which does not make unlimited obedience to a 
confessor the safest and most perfect way to salvation. No, 
I should not hesitate to assert it in the hearing of all the world : 
in the same proportion as a Roman Catholic has an under- 
standing and a will of his own upon religious matters, or mat- 
ters connected in any way with religion, in that same degree 
he acts against the duties to which he is bound by his religious 
profession. 

R. I do not well understand the Romanist belief on the ne- 
cessity of confession. 

A. The Romanist Church makes the confession of every 
>sin by thought, word, and deed, necessary to receive ab- 
solution from a Priest, and teaches that, without absolu- 
tion, when there is a possibility of obtaining it, God will not 
grant remission of sins. The most sincere repentance, ac- 
cording to the Catholics, is not sufficient to save a sinner, with- 
out confession and absolution, where there is a possibility of 
applying to a Priest. On the other hand, they assert that even 



336 



PRESERVATIVE 



imperfect repentance, a sorrow arising from the fear of hell, 
which they call attrition, will save a sinner who confesses 
and receives absolution. The evident object of doctrines so in- 
consistent with the letter and spirit of the Scriptures, is no 
doubt, that of making the priesthood absolute masters of the 
people's consciences. They must some time or other (every 
Roman Catholic is, indeed, bound to confess at least once a 
year, under pain of excommunication) entrust a Priest with the 
inmost secrets of their hearts ; and this, under the impression 
that if any one sin is suppressed from a sense of shame, abso- 
lution makes them guilty of sacrilege. The effects of this 
bondage, the reluctance which young people, especially, 
have to overcome, and the frequency of their making up their 
minds to garble confession, in spite of their belief that they in- 
crease the number and guilt of their sins by silence, are evils 
which none but a Roman Catholic Priest can be perfectly ac- 
quainted with. 

R. I thought, Sir, that confession acted as a check upon 
men's consciences, and that it often caused restitution of ill- 
gotten money. 

A. I never hear that paltry plea, so frequently used by 
Roman Catholic writers in this country, without indignation. 
It seems as if they wished to bribe men's love of money to the 
support of their doctrines. In a case where the main interests 
of religion and morality are so deeply concerned, it is a sort of 
insult to hold up the chance of recovering money through the 
hands of a Priest, as if to draw the attention from the mon- 
strous evils which are inseparable from the Romanist confes- 
sion. The truth is, that restitution is not a whit more probable 
among Roman Catholics, than among any other denomination 
of Christians. There is not a Protestant who does not firmly 
believe the necessity of restitution in order to obtain pardon 
from God. Though I have lived only fifteen years in a Pro- 
testant country, the voluntary restitution of a sum of money by\ 
a poor person, whom the grace of God had called to a truly 
christian course of life, has happened within my notice. I 
acted as a Confessor in Spain for many years, and from my 
own experience can assure you, that confession does not add 
one single chance of restitution. I believe on the contrary, 
that the generality of Roman Catholics depend so much on the 
mysterious power which they attribute to the absolution of the 
Priest, that they greatly neglect the conditions on which that 
absolution is often given. The Protestant who earnestly and 
sincerely wishes for pardon from God, knows that he cannot 



AGAINST POPERY. 



337 



obtain it unless he is equally earnest in his endeavors to make 
restitution; but when the Romanist has assured to the Confes- 
sor, that he will try his best to indemnify those he has injured, 
the words of absolution are to him a sort of charm, that re- 
I moves the guilt at once, and consequently relieves his uneasi- 
' ness about restitution. One of the greatest evils of confession 
is, that it has changed the genuine repentance preached in 
' the Gospel — that conversion and change of life which is the 
only true external sign of the remission of sins through Christ 
— into a ceremony which silences remorse at the slight expense 
of a doubtful, temporary sorrow for past offences. As the day 
of confession approaches (which for the greatest part, is hardly 
I once a year) the Romanist grows restless and gloomy. He 
mistakes the shame of a disgusting disclosure, for sincere re- 
pentance of his sinful actions. He, at length, goes through 
j the disagreeable task, and feels relieved. The old score is 
now cancelled, and he may run into spiritual debt with a 
lighter heart. This I know from my own experience, both as 
Confessor and as Penitent. In the same characters, and from 
j the same experience, I can assure you that the practice of con- 
fession is exceedingly injurious to the purity of mind enjoined 
in the Scriptures. " Filthy communication" is inseparable 
| from the confessional: the Priest in discharge of the duty im- 
i posed on him by his Church, is bound to listen to the most abom- 
inable description of all manner of sins. He must inquire into 
I every circumstance of the most profligate course of life. Men 
and women, the young and the old, the married and the sin- 
gle, are bound to describe to the Confessor the most secret ac- 
tions and thoughts, which are either sinful in themselves, or 
may be so from accidental circumstances. Consider the dan- 
ger to which the Priests themselves are exposed — a danger so 
imminent, that the Popes have, on two occasions, been obliged 
to issue the most severe laws against Confessors who openly 
attempt the seduction of their female penitents. I will not, 
however, press this subject, because it cannot be done with 
sufficient delicacy. Let me conclude by observing, that no 
invention of the Roman Church equals this, as regards the 
power it gives to the^Priesthood. One of the greatest difficul- 
ties to establish a free and rational government in Popish 
countries, arises from the opposition which free and equal 
laws meet with, from the Priests in the confessional. A Con- 
fessor can promote even treason with safety, in the secrecy 
which protects his office. But without alluding to political 
reforms, the influence of the King's Confessors, when the 

2F 



338 



PRESERVATIVE 



monarch is a pious man, is known to be so great in Catholic 
countries, that when there was a kind of Parliament in Arra- 
gon, a law was made to prevent the King from choosing his 
own Priest, and the election was reserved to the Parliament 
called Cortes. 

R. I cannot help wondering how the Church of Rome 
could persuade men to submit to such a revolting and dangerous 
practice as that of confession. 

A. This enormous abuse grew up gradually and impercep- 
tibly, together with the whole of the Romanist system. It 
was the practice in the beginning of the Christian Church, to 
exclude the scandalous sinners from public worship, till they 
had shown their repentance by confessing their misconduct 
before the congregation. This discipline was found, in the 
course of some time, to be impracticable ; and the act of humil- 
iation, which at first was required to be public, was changed 
into a private acknowledgment to the Bishop, of such sins only 
as had occasioned the exclusion of the sinner from Church at 
the time of worship. The Bishops, a little after, began to refer 
such acts of public reconciliation with the Church to some of 
their Priests. The growing ignorance of after times made 
people believe that this act of external reconciliation was a real 
absolution of the moral guilt of sin ; and the Church of Rome, 
with that perpetual watchfulness by which she has never omit- 
ted an opportunity of increasing her power, foisted upon the 
Christian world what she calls the Sacrament of Penance, 
obliging her members, as they wish for pardon of their sins, to 
reveal them to a Priest. 

i2. Is there nothing in Scripture to support that practice ? 

A. Nothing but the word confessing, which, as you will 
observe, means only, whenever it occurs, the acknowledgment 
of our sins before God ; or that of our mutual faults, to our fel- 
low Christians. " Confess your faults one to another; says 
St. James.* The Romanist will make us believe, that by one 
to another the holy Apostle means confessing to the Priest. — 
By thus distorting the sense of the Scripture, and calling in 
the convenient help of their own invented tradition, they have 
set no limits to their encroachments upon the spiritual liberty 
of the Christian world. Their love of power had, indeed, car- 
ried them so far, that in enlarging the foundations of their in- 
fluence, they established some of their doctrines without even 
a word in the Scriptures on which to build their fanciful sys- 



*Chap. iii. ver. 16. 



AGAINST POPERY. 



339 



terns. Did you ever find any mention of relics in the Bible; 
or do you recollect that it ever mentions images, but to forbid 
the worshipping of them ? 

R. Certainly not. But do you believe, Sir, that relics 
and images, are also instruments of power to the Church of 
Rome? 

A. The city of Rome has carried on, for ages, a trade in 
bones, which, besides the donations in money, made by those 
who, from all parts of the world, came or sent thither to procure 
them, has been the cause of building churches, with large en- 
dowments for the clergy, in almost every province in Chris- 
tendom. 

12. But were those bones really from the bodies of the 
Saints, whose names they gave to them? 

A. Nothing can equal the impudence with which the bones 
really taken out of the public burial grounds, where the ancient 
Romans buried their slaves, have been sent about under the 
names of all the Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins, mentioned 
in the Roman Catholic legends. The Pope claims the power 
of what is called christening relics, and the devout Romanists 
believe, that when their Holy Father has thus given a name 
to a skull or a thigh bone, it is equally valuable, as if it had 
been taken from the body of their favorite Saint. They are 
not generally aware that what is thus christened, is proba- 
bly part of the skeleton of some ancient heathen. But to give 
you an idea of the credulity which the Popes have encouraged 
on this point, I have seen the treasury of relics which belongs 
to the kings of Spain; where the Monk who keeps it, shows to 
all who visit the Church of the Escurial, near Madrid, the 
whole body, as it is pretended, of one of the children who were 
put to death by Herod. But there is still a more monstrous 
piece of impudence in the same exhibition. A glass vial set in 
gold, is shown, with some milk of the Virgin Mary. These and 
a hundred other such relics, are presented to be worshipped by 
the people ; all duly certified by the Pope or his ministers. 
At the Cathedral at Seville, the town where I was born, there 
is among other relics, one of the teeth of Christopher, a Saint 
who is said to have been a giant. The tooth was procured 
from Rome, and is to be seen in a silver and glass casket, 
through which the holy relic may be admired by the worship- 
pers. It is clear, however, that the tooth before which the 
Pope allows his spiritual children to kneel, belonged to a huge 
animal of the elephant kind. These impositions have been at 
all times carried on so carelessly by the Romish Priesthood, 



340 



PRESERVATIVE 



that it was necessary in some cases, to declare that the bodies 
of some Saints had been miraculously multiplied; else peo- 
ple would have discovered the fraud by finding the same 
Saint at different places. The Priests themselves are often 
aware of these absurdities; but they must bow their heads 
in silence. I will, however, tell you a good joke of a French 
Priest of high rank, who, having no religion himself, as it 
often happens to those of his profession in Roman Catholic 
countries, submitted quietly to the established superstition, 
though he would now and then give vent to a humorous sneer. 
He had been travelling in Italy, and in the Catholic parts of 
Germany, where the collection of relics kept in every great 
Church, had been boastingly displayed to him. The Priests 
of a famous abbey in France were doing the same, when 
among other wonders, "here," they said to the traveller, "is 
the head of John the Baptist." — " Praised be heaven !" answer- 
ed the waggish Priest, " this is the third head of the holy Bap- 
tist which I have been happy enough to hold in my hands." 

R. I hope the jolly Priest did not pay dear for his wit. 

A. It would have been a serious matter in Spain : but there 
has always existed a very strong party of disguised infidels 
in France, where the Pope never succeeded in his attempts 
to establish the Inquisition. The consequence was, that the 
Priests were greatly checked by the general laugh which 
was often raised against them. He that would know genu- 
ine Popery must go to Spain — the country where it has been 
allowed to grow and unfold itself into full size. There you 
would see all the engines of Rome at work, and perfectly un- 
derstand the true and original object of her inventions. To 
show you at one glance the benefit derived by the Priests from 
image worship, I will tell you what happened at Madrid, dur- 
ing a residence of three years, which I made in that most 
Catholic capital. In one of the meanest parts of the town 
the ragged children, who are always running about the streets, 
found an old picture, which had been thrown, with other 
rubbish, upon a dunghill. Not knowing what the picture 
was, they tied it to a piece of rope, and were dragging it 
about, when an old woman in the neighborhood, looked at 
the canvass, and found upon it the head of a Virgin Mary. 
Her screams of horror at the profanation which she beheld, 
scared away the children, and the old woman was left in pos- 
session of the treasure. The gossips of the neighborhood 
were anxious to make some amends to the picture for the past 
neglect and ill-treatment, and they all contributed towards the 



AGAINST POPERY. 



341 



expense of burning a lamp, day and night, before it, in the old 
woman's house. A priest getting scent of what was going 
on, took the scratched Virgin under his patronage, framed the 
canvass, and added another light. All the rich folks who 
heard of this new-found image, came to pray before it, and 
gave something to the Priest and the old woman, who were now 
in close partnership. In a very short time the amount of the 
daily donations enabled the joint proprietors of the picture, to 
build a fine Chapel, with a comfortable house adjoining it for 
themselves. The Chapel was crowded from morning till 
night, not a female, high or low, but firmly believed that her 
life and safety depended upon the favor of that particular 
picture : the rich endeavored to obtain it by large sums of 
money for masses to be performed, and candles to be burnt be- 
fore it, and the poor stinted their necessary food to throw a 
mite into the box which hung at the door of the chapel. I do 
not relate to you old stories ; I state what I myself have seen. 
Yet, what happened to Madrid under my own eyes, had con- 
stantly taken place in the Popish kingdoms of Europe, till the 
Reformation gave a check to the Romanist Priesthood. There 
is scarcely a town or a village of some note in Europe but had a 
rich sanctuary, where Monks lived, mostly in vice and idle- 
ness, at the expense of the neighborhood. The origin of 
these places was perfectly similar every where ; a shepherd 
found an image of the Virgin in the hollow of a tree, (most 
assuredly placed there on purpose to be thus found ;) an old 
woman drew another from the bottom of a w T ell; a stranger 
had asked for lodgings for a night at a cottage — he was not to 
be found in the morning; but, on searching the room where 
he slept, a small Virgin Mary was discovered. The nearest 
Bishop was sure to come with his Priests, holding lighted ta- 
pers, and carry such images in procession to his church ; and 
declare that they had been miraculously sent to the faithful ! 
Those found in the tree and well had fallen from heaven : the 
vanished stranger was an angel, who had carved the image 
during the night. 

R. Such images put me in mind of what is said in the Acts 
of the Apostles, about the great Diana of the Ephesians, 
which had fallen from heaven, and for the sake of which the 
people made a riot, in which they would have murdered Saint 
Paul* 

A. The Church of Rome has so closely copied the idola- 
trous superstitions of the Pagans, that all persons not blinded 
* Acts xix. 35. 
2f2 



342 



PRESERVATIVE 



by the fanatic zeal of that Church, are struck with the great 
similarity. Their lighted candles, their frankincense, images 
from heaven, many ceremonies* of their mass, many forms of 
their private worship are just the same as formed a part of the 
service done formerly to the idols of the heathens. Even the 
manner of acknowledging the pretended miracles by hanging 
up in the temples little figures of wax, or pictures representing 
the part of the body which is supposed to have been supernat- 
urally healed, or the accident from which the person escaped, 
is constantly practised, wherever the Pope alone directs his 
flock, without fearing a laugh from Protestant neighbors. If 
the figures acknowledging miracles performed by images 
throughout the realms of Popery, were to be reckoned, the 
miracles would amount to some hundreds a day. 

R. But how can people believe in such a number of mir- 
acles ? 

A. The Church of Rome, my friend, is like a large and 
showy quack-medicine shop. There is not a disease, not an 
evil, for which the Pope has not a labelled Saint. People 
when in fear or actual suffering, are apt to receive a certain 
relief from hope. You have only to say, try this or that med- 
icine, and you will see the patient's eyes lighted up, like the 
poor man who has a kind of foretaste of riches from the mo- 
ment he purchases a lottery ticket. The Pope's spiritual 
quack-medicines are to be applied without doubt or hesita- 
tion, and not to be given up in despair; all you are allowed 
is to add some new Saint to your former patron. Well, a poor 
creature is writhing with the tooth-ache ; he goes to the Pope's 
shop, and finds that Saint Apollonia had all her teeth pulled 
out, and therefore takes pity on those who suffer in a similar 
way. He prays, buys a print of the Saint, and lights up a 
candle before it. If the pain goes off, Saint Apollonia cured 
him; if at last the tooth is drawn, Saint Apollonia blunted the 
pain of the operation. So it is with every disease, with every 
undertaking, — a journey, a speculation ; even the most sinful 
and wicked actions are often commended by the lower classes 
of Roman Catholics to the care of their patron Saint. Of 
this I have the most positive certainty. Miracles being thus 
expected at all times, and means supposed to possess a super- 
natural virtue, being constantly used, under the idea that the 
most effectual way of receiving the looked-for benefit, is a 
strong persuasion of their efficacy, and a rejection of all doubt, 
which, they believe, offends the implored Saint; every acci- 
dent is construed into a wonder : the failures are attributed to 



AGAINST POPERY. 



343 



a want of faith, and the success, either complete or partial, 
which would have infallibly taken place in the natural course 
of things, is confidently proclaimed as a display of supernat- 
ural power. Add to this, that there is a very common feel- 
ing among the Roman Catholics, of the same kind as that 
which anticipates thanks for the sake of securing favor. — 
They, in fact, give credit to their Saints beyond what they re- 
ally believe, and flatter them by public acknowledgments, 
which they mean as a beforehand payment, which, in common 
honesty, must bind the receiver to complete the work. All 
this is done, not with an intent to deceive, but from that utter 
weakness of mind which a man cannot fail to contract, when 
brought up under a complete system of quackery, either spir- 
itual or temporal : a system which encourages all sorts of fears, 
to ensure the sale of imaginary remedies against them. 

R. Do you think, Sir, that all Roman Catholics are in 
such a state of mind ? 

A. By no means. There are various circumstances which 
make individual minds resist, more or less, the influence of 
their Church. But this I can assure you before the whole 
world, that whoever submits entirely to the guidance of Rome, 
must become a weak, superstitious being, unless his natural 
temper should dispose him to join with superstition the violence 
and persecuting spirit of the bitterest bigotry. 

R. If you can prove what you so broadly assert, I shall in- 
fer, that while the Roman Catholics uphold their Church for 
the sake of possessing an unerring guide, and thus having a 
decided advantage over the Protestant Churches, who allow 
their members to exercise their judgment upon religious 
matters; it is only individual judgment and natural good 
sense that make Romanism assume a decent appearance 
among us. 

.A. Keep to your inference till we can renew this conversa- 
tion, when I trust I shall satisfy you that it is supported by the 
most undeniable facts. Remember that I undertake to prove, 
that the Church of Rome leads her members into the most 
abject and lamentable superstition, credulity, and bigotry; 
that she keeps her subjects in bondage by the most tyrannical 
means; and that she is always ready to force men into sub- 
jection to her authority, in the same measure as they are off 
their guard to resist her encroachments. 



DIALOGUE IV. 



Superstitious character of the Church of Rome ; her Doctrine on Penance : 
Apostolic Doctrine of Justification: Effects of Celibacy and Religious 
Vows : persecuting Spirit of Romanism. 

Author. I co:>ie prepared to describe to you the character 
of the Church of Rome : and in the first place I am to prove 
that she exerts her whole power in making her members 
superstitious. I must, however, ask you, before I proceed, 
whether you have a clear idea of what is meant by the word 
superstitious. 

Reader. I believe I have a tolerably good notion of it : but 
to say the truth, I should be at a loss to state clearly what I 
understand by that word. 

A. My notion of it may be expressed thus : superstition 
consists in credulity, hopes, and fears, about invisible and 
supernatural things, upon fanciful and slight grounds. We 
call that man superstitious who is ready to believe any idle 
story of ghosts and witches; who nails a horse-shoe upon the 
ship or barn, which he hopes by that means to preserve in 
safety; and dreads evil consequences from going out of doors 
the first time in the morning, with his left foot foremost. 

R. Does the Church of Rome encourage superstitions of 
this kind? 

A. She certainly encourages the same state of mind, 
though not exactly upon the same things. Every church may 
be compared to a great school or establishment for religious 
education. I will represent to you a pupil of that school, that 
you may infer what is taught in it, and I will draw the picture 
from various Roman Catholics whom I have intimately known. 
Imagine my Romanist friend retiring to his bed in the night. — 
The walls of the room are covered with pictures of all sizes. 
Upon a table there is a wooden or brass figure of our Saviour 
nailed to the cross, with two wax candles, ready to be lighted 
at each side. Our Romanist carefully locks the door; lights 
up the candles, kneels before the cross, and beats his breast 
with his clenched right hand, till it rings again in a hollow 
sound. It is probably a Friday, a day of penance ■ the good 

344 



AGAINST POPERY. 



345 



man looks pale and weak. I know the reason — he has made 
but one meal on that day, and that on fish ; had he tasted meat, 
he feels assured he should have subjected his soul to the pains 
of hell. But the mortifications of the day are not over. He 
unlocks a small cupboard, and takes out a skull, which he kiss- 
es and places upon the table at the foot of the crucifix. He 
then strips off part of his clothes, and with a scourge, composed 
of small twisted ropes hardened with wax, lays stoutly to the 
right and left, till his bare skin is ready to burst with accumu- 
lated blood. The discipline, as it is called, being over, he 
mutters several prayers, turning to every picture in the room. 
He then rises to go to bed ; but before he ventures into it, he 
puts his finger into a little cup which hangs at a short distance 
over his pillow, and sprinkles with the fluid it contains, the bed 
and the room in various directions, and finally moistens his 
forehead in the form of a cross. The cup, you must know, 
contains holy water — water in which a Priest has put some 
salt, making over it the sign of the cross several times, and 
saying some prayers, which the Church of Rome has inserted 
for this purpose in the mass-book. The use of that water, as 
our Roman Catholic has been taught to believe, is to prevent 
the devil from approaching the places and things which have 
been recently sprinkled with it ; and he does not feel himself 
safe in his bed without the precaution which I have described. 
The holy water has, besides, an internal and spiritual power 
of washing away venial sins — those slight sins, I mean, which, 
according to the Romanists, if unrepented, or unwashed away 
by holy water, or the sign of the cross made by the hand of a 
Bishop, or some other five or six methods, which I will not 
trouble you with, will keep the venial sinner in purgatory for 
a certain time. The operations of the devout Roman Catholic 
are probably not yet done. On the other side of the holy wa- 
ter cup, there hangs a frame holding a large cake of wax, 
with figures raised by a mould, not unlike a large butter-pat. 
It is an Agnus Dei, blest by the Pope, which is not to be had 
except it can be imported from Rome. I believe the wax is 
kneaded with some earth from the place where the bones of 
the supposed Martyrs are dug up. Whoever possesses one 
of these spiritual treasures, enjoys the benefit of a great num- 
ber of indulgences; for, each kiss impressed on the wax, 
gives him the whole value of fifty or one hundred days em- 
ployed in doing penance and good works; the amount of which 
is to be struck off the debt which he has to pay in Purgatory. 
I should not wonder if our good man, before laying himself to 



346 



PRESERVATIVE 



sleep, were to feel about his neck for his rosary or beads. 
Perhaps he has one of a particular value, and like that which 
I was made to wear next my skin, when a boy. A Priest had 
brought it from Rome, where it had been made, if we believe 
the certificates, of bits of the very stones with which the first 
Martyr, Stephen, was put to death. Being satisfied that the 
rosary hangs still on his neck, he arranges its companion, the 
scapulary, formed of two square pieces of the stuff which is 
exclusively worn by some religious order. By means of the 
scapulary, he is assured either that the Virgin Mary will not 
allow him to remain in Purgatory beyond the Saturday next 
to the day of his death; or he is made partaker of all the pen- 
ances and good works performed by the religious of the order 
to which the scapulary belongs. At last, having said a prayer 
to the angel who, he believes, keeps a constant guard over 
him, the devout Romanist composes himself to sleep, touching 
his forehead, his breast, and the two shoulders, to form the fig- 
ure of a cross. The prayer and ceremonies of the morning 
are not unlike those of the night. Armed with the sprinkling 
of holy water, he proceeds to mass : if it happens to be one of 
the privileged days in which souls may be delivered out of Pur- 
gatory, you will see him saying a certain number of prayers 
at different altars. He will repeat his rosary in honor of the 
Virgin Mary, dropping through his fingers either fifty -five or 
seventy-seven beads, which are strung in the form of a neck- 
lace. There may be a blessing with the Sacrament, which the 
good Catholic will not lose, for the sake of the plenary indul- 
gence which the Pope grants to such as are present. On that 
occasion you would see him kneeling and beating his breast, 
while the Priest, in a splendid cloak of silk and gold, in the 
midst of lighted candles and the smoke of frankincense, makes 
the sign of the cross with a consecrated wafer, inclosed be- 
tween two pieces of glass set in gold. — It would, indeed, be an 
endless task were I to enumerate all the methods and contri- 
vances of this kind recommended by the Church of Rome to 
all her members, and practised by all who are not careless of 
their spiritual concerns. — These are facts which no honest 
Roman Catholic will venture to deny. I therefore ask wheth- 
er, since revelation is the only means we have of distinguish- 
ing between religion and superstition, — between things and 
acts which really can influence our manner of being when we 
shall be removed to the invisible world ; and fanciful contri- 
vances which there is no reason to suppose connected with 
our spiritual welfare — I ask whether the whole system of the 



AGAINST POPERY. 



347 



Church of Rome, for the attainment of Christian virtue, is not 
a chain of superstitious practices, calculated to accustom the 
mind to imaginary fear, and fly to the Church for fanciful 
remedies ? Saint Paul had a prophetic eye on this adulterated 
Christianity when he cautioned the Colossians,* saying : Let 
no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect 
of a holyday: Let no man beguile you of your reward in a 
voluntary humility and icorshipping of angels, intruding into 
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his 
fleshly mind, and not holding the head from which all the body 
by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit to- 
gether, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye 
be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as 
though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (touch, 
not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using) 
after the commandments and doctrines of men? WJiich things 
have, indeed, a shew of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, 
and neglecting of the body. I cannot conceive a more perfect 
resemblance than that which exists between the picture of a 
devout Romanist, and the will-worship described in this pas- 
sage. Observe the distinction of days, the prohibition of cer- 
tain meats, the worshipping of angels, the numerous ordinan- 
ces, the mortification and neglect of the body; and most of all, 
the losing hold of the head, Christ, and substituting a constant 
endeavor to increase spiritually by fleshly, that is, external 
means, instead of fortifying by a simple and spiritual worship, 
the bands and joints through which alone the Christian can 
have nourishment, and increase with the increase of God. 

R. I confess that the likeness is very striking. But I wish 
to know if all the will-worship of the Romanists is fully recom- 
mended by their Church. 

A. It is in the most solemn and powerful manner. You 
have only to look into the devotional books which are used 
among the Romanists, and you will find their bishops encour- 
aging this kind of religious discipline in the most unqualified 
terms. I could read to you innumerable passages confirming 
and recommending more fleshly ordinances than ever the 
Jews observed: and this, too, in English Roman Catholic 
books, which, for fear of censure on the part of the Protes- 
tants, are generally more shy of disclosing the whole system 
of their Church, than those published abroad. But what set- 
tles the point at once, and shews that it is the Church of Rome 



*Chap. ii. 



348 



PRESERVATIVE 



and not any private individual, that adulterates the character 
and temper of Christian virtue, I have only to refer you to 
their Common Prayer-book, which they call the Breviary. — 
Now, that is a book not only published and confirmed by three 
Popes, but which they oblige their whole clergy to read daily, 
for at least an hour and a half. Such, indeed, is the impor- 
tance which the Church of Rome attaches to that book, that 
she declares any Clergyman or Monk who omits, even less 
than an eighth part of the appointed daily reading, guilty of 
sin, worthy of hell, — a mortal sin, which deprives man of the 
grace of God. The Breviary contains Psalms and Collects, 
and lives of Saints, for every day of the year. These lives 
are given as examples of what the church of Rome declares 
to be Christian perfection, and her members are, of course, 
urged to imitate them as far as it may possibly be in every 
one's power. Now, I can assure you, having been for many 
years forced to read the Breviary daily, that there is not one 
instance of a Saint, whose worship is not grounded, by the 
Church of Rome, mainly upon the most extravagant practice 
of external ceremonies, and the most shocking use of their 
imaginary virtue of penance. 

R. What do they mean by penance ? 

A. The voluntary infliction of pain on themselves to expiate 
their sins. 

R. Do they not believe in the atonement of Christ? 

A. They believe that the atonement is enough to save 
them from hell, but not from a temporal punishment of sin. 

R. But have they not plenary indulgences to satisfy for that 
temporal punishment? 

A. So they believe ; but the truth is, that they cannot un- 
derstand themselves upon the subject of penance and indul- 
gences. Penance, however, the Romanist Church recom- 
mends even at the expense of depraving the sense of the Gos- 
pel in their translations. As there is nothing in the New Tes- 
tament which can make self-inflicted pain a Christian virtue, 
the Romanists, wanting a text to support their practices, have 
rendered the third verse of the 13th chapter of Luke, " unless 
ye be penitent, ye shall all alike perish." Yet, this was not 
enough for their purpose, and as the same sentence is repeat- 
ed in the fifth verse, there they slipt in the word penance. — 
Their translation of that verse is, "unless ye shall do penance, 
you shall all alike perish." By the use of this word they 
make their laity believe, that both confession, which they call 



AGAINST POPERY. 



349 



penance, and all the bodily mortifications which go among 
them by the same name, are commanded by Christ. 

R. That, Sir, I look upon as very unfair. 

A. And the more so, my friend, as in the original Gospel, 
the word used by the inspired writer is the same in both 
verses, and cannot by any possibility mean any thing but a 
change of the mind, which we properly express by the word 
repent. 

R. What, Sir, is the origin of their attachment to bodily 
mortification ? 

A. A mean estimate of the atonement of Christ; and the 
example of some fanatics, whom, at an early period of the 
corruptions of Christianity, Rome declared to be saints and 
patterns of Evangelical virtue. The Monks, who took them 
for their models, gained an unbounded influence in the 
Church: and both by the practice of some enthusiasts among 
them, and by the stories of miracles, which they reported as 
being the reward of their bodily mortification, confirmed the 
opinion of the great merit of penance among the laity. Here, 
also, the mutual aid of the doctrines invented by Rome, con- 
tributed to increase the error: for, as the Popes teach that the 
indulgences which they grant are taken from the treasure of 
merits collected by the Saints, it is the interest of those who 
expect to escape from Purgatory by the aid of indulgences, 
that the treasure of penances be well-stocked; and they greatly 
enjoy the accounts of wonderful mortifications which their 
Church gives them in her Prayer-book. 

R. Do you think those accounts extravagant? 

A. I will give two or three, and you shall judge. You 
know that Saint Patrick is one of the most favorite Saints 
among the Irish Roman Catholics, as having been the first 
who introduced Christianity into their island. The Church 
of Rome gives the following account of his daily religious 
practices, holding him up, of course, as a pattern, which if 
few can fully copy, every one will be the more perfect as he 
endeavors to imitate. The Breviary tells the Roman Catho- 
lics, that when their patron Saint was a slave, having his mas- 
ter's cattle under his care, he used to rise before day -light, 
under the snows and rains of winter, to begin his usual task 
of praying one hundred times in the day, and again one hun- 
dred times in the night. When he was made a Bishop, we are 
told that he repeated every day the one hundred and fifty 
Psalms of the Psaltery, with a collection of canticles and 
hymns, and two hundred collects besides. He made it also a 

2G 



350 



PRESERVATIVE 



daily duty to kneel three hundred times, and to make the sign 
of the cross with his hand eight hundred times a day. In the 
night he recited one hundred Psalms, and knelt two hundred 
times — passed one third of it up to the chin in cold water re- 
peating fifty Psalms more, and then rested for two or three 
hours on a stone pavement. 

R. I cannot believe it possible for a man to perform what 
you have said, unless he had the strength and velocity of a 
steam engine. 

A. I will not enter into the question of its probability; 
External ceremonies, and a course of self-murdering practices, 
are proposed by the Church of Rome, in nine out of ten lives 
of their Saints, as objects of imitation. In the same spirit St. 
Catherine of Siena is represented as so addicted to the prac- 
tice of fasting, that heaven, to indulge her in the performance 
of that pretended virtue, kept her, by miracle, without food 
from Ash- Wednesday till Whit-Sunday. So the Breviary 
proclaims before the face of the world. 

R. But does not our church recommend fasting as a reli- 
gious practice? 

A. The practice of checking our appetites, even those which 
we may indulge without sin, is a most useful exercise of the 
powers of the will over the inclinations of our passions. The 
man who cannot abstain from some savory food, and is a 
slave to the cravings of his stomach, is little apt to control his 
inclinations when tempted to open sin. Upon this principle, 
and justly fearing that if the memory of fast was abolished, 
men might be inclined to believe that Protestantism encour- 
aged gluttony and excess; the Church of England recom- 
mends a rational abstinence on certain days, which, especially 
when it is made to produce some savings to bestow upon the 
poor, must be acceptable in the sight of God. But neither 
are these fasts enjoined under the threat of damnation, as we 
find them in the Church of Rome, nor do they consist in a su- 
perstitious distinction, or quantity of food. The Roman Cath- 
olic fast is intended to produce pain and suffering, which is the 
object of their penances: ours is a mere check laid upon in- 
dulgence, and even that is left to the discretion and free will 
of every individual. 

R. How far does the Church of Rome recommend the in- 
fliction of pain, as penance ? 

A. To an excess that destroys every year many well-mean- 
ing and ardent persons, especially young women of that com- 
munion. These deluded creatures lead the lives of Saints set 



AGAINST POPERY. 



351 



forth by their Church, and there they find many females who 
are said to have arrived at great perfection by living, like St. 
Elizabeth of Portugal, one half of the year on bread and wa- 
ter; besides the constant use of scourging their bodies, sleep- 
ing on the naked ground, wearing bandages with points that 
run into the flesh, plunging into freezing water, and ten thou- 
sand other methods of gradually destroying life. 

R. I cannot help thinking, that though the church of Rome 
is not the best school for Christian instruction, it must afford a 
kind of spiritual amusement (spiritual, I say, because I cannot 
find another word) to her followers. Her ceremonies, her mir- 
acles, her relics, must afford an agreeable variety to those who 
have never doubted her creed. 

A. Ah, my friend, nothing can be more deceitful than the 
appearance of that Church. There is more misery produced 
by her laws and institutions than I can possibly describe, 
though I have drunk her cup of bitterness to the dregs. In the 
first place, a sincere mind which is made to depend for the 
hope of salvation on any thing but faith and unbounded trust in 
the Saviour, can never enjoy that Christian peace "which 
passeth all understanding." I have known some of the best 
and most conscientious Roman Catholics which that Church 
can ever boast of ; my own mother and sisters were among 
them; I have been Confessor not a few years, and heard the 
true state of mind of the most religious nuns, and such as were 
looked upon as living saints by all the inhabitants of my town. 
From this intimate knowledge of their state, I do assure you, 
that they are, for the greatest part, so full of doubts about their 
salvation, as not unfrequently to be driven to madness. In their 
anxiety to accumulate merits (for their church teaches them 
that their penances and religious practices are deserving of 
reward in heaven) they involve themselves in a maze of ex- 
ternal practices. Then come the fears of sin in the very things 
which they undertake under the notion of pleasing God; and 
as they believe that their works are to be weighed and valued 
in strict justice, the sincerity of their hearts cannot help dis- 
covering not only that they are nothing worth, but that sin is 
often mixed with their performance. In this state they are 
never impressed with the true scriptural doctrine, that the 
blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, whenever the sinner, 
with a lively faith receives him as his only Saviour. They are 
not taught that good works are the fruit of true faith; but that 
they bear a true share with Christ in the work of our salva- 
tion. They are thus forced, by their doctrines, to look to them- 



352 



PRESERVATIVE 



selves for the hope of heaven ; and what can be the conse- 
quence but the most agonizing fear? With the view of heaven 
and hell perpetually before their eyes, and a strong belief that 
the obtaining the one and avoiding the other depends on the 
performance of a multitude of self-imposed duties, as complica- 
ted and more difficult than those of the ceremonial law of the 
Jews; what can be the result but distracting anxiety? When 
a Protestant is conscious that he does not make the doctrine 
of salvation by faith in Christ, a means to deceive himself and 
indulge his passions; his trust in the "full, perfect, and suf- 
ficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the 
whole world," which was made on the cross, removes all fear 
from his soul. In his progress through the stormy sea of life, 
he does not as the Romanist, cling with one hand to Christ, 
and depend on the strength of the other to break the waves. — 
The poor deluded pupil of the Popish school, looks (as man al- 
ways does in cases of great danger) not to the stronger, but 
the weaker ground, for his dependence for safety. Fear, con- 
sequently, predominates in his heart. "Mind your swim- 
ming hand," say his Priests: "ply it stoutly, or Christ will 
allow you to sink." — " Hold fast on Him who is powerful to 
save," says the Protestant Church, in the language of the Bi- 
ble : " all that you have to do, is to throw the weight of your 
sins and infirmities upon Christ." This is the only faith that 
can produce the fulness of "joy and hope in believing." 

R. But are not good works necessary to salvation? 

A. The truly Apostolic doctrine on that point will be best 
understood by looking to the direct consequence of sin. Be- 
sides that, the whole scripture is full of loud warnings against 
wickedness; the Apostle expressly says: Know ye not that the 
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God! Be not de- 
ceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, 
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall 
inherit the kingdom of God.* So that there can be no doubt, 
that if we wish to be saved, we must renounce sin, or, as we 
are told by our Saviour, we must repent; that is, as the origi- 
nal word expresses it, we must change our mind, from the pur- 
suit of unrighteousness. By turning away from sin, and pla- 
cing our full trust or faith in Christ, we are pardoned and be- 
come justified in the sight of God. We then are made living 
branches of the true vine, and the spiritual life which we re- 



*1 Cor. yi. 9, 10. 



AGAINST POPERY. 



353 



ceive from the trunk, cannot fail to produce fruit unto life eter- 
nal. Here then is the essential difference between the Pro- 
testant and the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification. The 
Roman Catholic believes that his good works are, in part at 
least, the means of his justification, and is anxious to secure 
and increase it by numerous external practices, especially by 
self-inflicted misery : the true Protestant feels assured, on the 
strength of revelation, that as he turns with his whole heart, 
and accepts pardon through Christ's blood, his sins are par- 
doned without reserve. The work of justification, or acquittal, 
is thereby perfect; and the spirit of Christ proceeds without 
delay subsequent to the work of sanctification. The Protest- 
ant has but one ground of salutary fear, lest he should wilful- 
ly and deliberately turn again from Christ to sin; but this fear 
is allayed by the certainty given him by the same Scripture, 
that God is faithful, and that it is God "who worketh in us 
both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.''* — The system of 
Popish justification is, I repeat to you, in the words of that 
truly great and calumniated man, Luther, "a plain tyran- 
ny, a racking and crucifying of consciences." He knew 
this from his own experience, for, like myself, he had in his 
youth, tried it in the full sincerity of his heart. In order to se- 
cure his salvation, and following the advice of the Church of 
Rome, he made himself a Monk, and most conscientiously kept 
the rule of his order; but he found, what I have frequently 
seen in those who bind themselves with Popish vows, that he 
was on the wav to distraction and downright madness. "When 
I was a Monk," he says, "I endeavored as much as possible, 
to live after the strait rule of my own order; I was wont to 
shrive (confess) myself with great devotion, and to reckon up 
all my sins, being always very contrite before, and I returned 
to confession very often, and thoroughly performed the penance 
that was enjoined unto me: yet for all this my conscience 
could never be fully certified, but was always in doubt, and 
said this or that thou hast not done rightly : thou wast not con- 
trite and sorrowful enough: this sin thou didst omit in thy con- 
fession, and so forth. • Therefore, the more I went about to 
help my weak wavering and afflicted conscience by men's tra- 
ditions, the more weak, and doubtful, and the more afflicted I 
was. And thus, the more I observed men's traditions, the 
more I transgressed them ; and in seeking after righteousness, 
by mine order, I never could attain unto it." — To the truth of 



*Phil. ii. 13. 
2g2 



354 



PEESEEVATIVE 



this statement I myself can bear most ample testimony. In 
fact, with the exception of the persecuting spirit of the Church 
of Rome, I know nothing more odious and mischievous than 
her contrivances after the righteousness or sanctity which she 
recommends ; they are indeed a plain tyranny, a racking and 
crucifying of the conscience. 

R. What contrivances do you mean? 

A. I mean the Popish laws, by which, in order, as they 
say, to make their clergy more perfect, men are led into the 
most fatal snares, even to the loss of their souls, or at least to 
the ruin of their happiness. It is, indeed, a consequence of 
the Romanist doctrine of good works, or works through which 
men acquire a title to salvation, that they should lay intolerable 
burthens on the necks of well-dispcsed Christians. Hence the 
Pope has made it necessary for his Clergy never to marry; 
and for both men and women who, striving after the imaginary 
perfection of works, make themselves Monks, or Friars, or 
Nuns, to make vows of never marrying, of obeying the supe- 
rior of their Convents, and possessing no money. They also 
oblige themselves to keep the rule of their order, which gives 
forty or fifty commandments, besides those of God ; and which, 
by their vows, they consider as binding, as if they were all in 
the bible. As far as .this goes such a system would be a dan- 
gerous absurdity : for what can be more unreasonable than to 
endanger salvation by self-imposed duties, when we know how 
difficult it is for man to keep the plain laws of God ? But, as 
the object of all these human ordinances is, that the Church of 
Rome may be able to make an external show of the sanctity of 
her unmarried Priests, and the self-denial of her professed 
Monks and Nuns; the Popes, fearing lest those who undertake 
these duties, should soon find them impracticable, and shame 
the Church by resuming their Christian liberty — the Popes, 
I say, most unfeelingly, and with the greatest disregard of 
men's salvation, have induced all Roman Catholic governments 
to force Clergymen, Friars and Nuns, to abide by their profes- 
sion; so that whoever finds himself unable to live in celibacy, 
or within the walls of a convent, must fly his country, under the 
dreadful certainty, that if taken in the attempt, he shall be 
punished with a cruel imprisonment during the rest of his 
life. 

R. That is certainly a piece of tyranny which I have not 
sufficient words to describe. 

A. You would, indeed, want words to express your feelings, 
if you had seen the effects of that proud and insolent despot- 



AGAINST POPERY. 



355 



ism of the Romish Church, as I have. Indeed I am touching 
upon a subject of which I cannot speak without the most live- 
ly pain and indignation. When Saint Paul enumerates the 
advantages which the unmarried Christians had in the early 
days of the Gospel, he uses the greatest caution. "This (says 
the Apostle) I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a 
snare upon you." The Church of Rome, on the contrary, car- 
ried away by her pride, uses every art to induce young per- 
'sons of either sex to bind themselves with religious vows of 
chastity for life. All her books of devotions, and especially her 
established Prayer-book, are full of the praises of virginity. 
She carries her absurd, not to say wicked, extravagance, to 
the point of asserting of one of her female Saints, (Saint Rose 
of Lima, whom I have already mentioned) that she made a 
vow of perpetual chastity at the age of five years. There was 
indeed a time, when children were bound by their parents to 
become Monks and Nuns for life ; an engagement which they 
were forced to keep when they grew up. But now the Church 
of Rome allows boys and girls of sixteen to take the religious 
vows, and having done so, she puts them under the guard of 
the Roman Catholic Governments, who, frightened with the 
spiritual threats of the Popes, employ their force to make them 
prisoners of the Church for life. It would make your very 
heart sick to see the nunneries abroad. They are large 
houses, with high walls like prisons; having small windows at 
a great distance from the ground, and guarded by strong and 
close iron bars, bristled over with long spikes. As it is the cus- 
tom among Roman Catholics to send most of their little girls to 
be educated by the Nuns, the poor innocents become attached 
to their teachers, who are besides exceedingly anxious to gain 
recruits to their order. The girls are petted till they come of 
age to take the vows. The priests, who being not allowed to 
marry, feel a strong jealousy of those who take a young and 
amiable wife, are always ready to advise their young penitents 
to take the veil. In this manner a great number of unsuspect- 
ing girls are yearly entrapped in the Roman Catholic Church. 
Even in England, nunneries have been on the increase of late 
years. Some of these poor prisoners continue in their slavery 
without reluctance : many feel unhappy, but submit from the 
shame of changing their minds, and because even in this coun- 
try, where the Protestant law would protect their leaving the 
convent, their relations w r ould look upon them as reprobates, 
and their Priests would harass them to death. In Roman 
Catholic countries, the hopelessness of their case obliges many 



356 



PRESERVATIVE 



to bear their unhappy lot patiently. But some are driven to 
desperation, and I have known instances which prove that the 
Pope is a more unfeeling tyrant than any slave-master in 
Algeirs. 

R. Have you really seen a poor female dying for liberty, 
and yet kept like a criminal in bondage ? 

A. I have known many; but there was one among those 
unhappy victims, whose sufferings harrow my mind and heart 
whenever they come to my recollection. You must, however, 
be made acquainted with her melancholy story ; but to save 
myself the pain of telling it anew, let me read it out of my 
Evidence against Catholicism: 

" The eldest daughter of a family intimately acquainted 
with mine, was brought up in the convent of Saint Agnes at 
Seville, under the care of her mother's sister, the abbess of 
that female community. The circumstances of the whole 
transaction were so public at Seville, and the subsequent ju- 
dicial proceedings have given them such notoriety, that I do 
not feel bound to conceal names. Maria Francisca Barrciro, 
the unfortunate subject of this account, grew up, a lively and 
interesting girl, in the convent; while a younger sister en- 
joyed the advantages of an education at home. The mother 
formed an early design of devoting her eldest daughter to re- 
ligion, in order to give her less attractive favorite a better 
chance of getting a husband. The distant and harsh man- 
ner with which she constantly treated Maria Francisca, at- 
tached the unhappy girl to her aun t by the ties of the most ar- 
dent affection. The time, however, arrived when it was 
necessary that she should either leave her, and endure the 
consequences of her mother's aversion at home, or take the 
vows, and thus close the gates of the convent upon herself for 
ever. She preferred the latter course ; and came out to pay 
the last visit to her friends. I met her, almost daily, at the 
house of one of her relations ; where her words and manner 
soon convinced me that she was a victim of her mother's de- 
signing and unfeeling disposition. The father was an excel- 
lent man, though timid and undecided. He feared his wife, 
and was in awe of the Monks ; who, as usual, were extremely 
anxious to increase the number of their female prisoners. — 
Though I was aware of the danger which a man incurs in 
Spain, who tries to dissuade a young woman from being a 
Nun, humanity impelled me to speak seriously to the father, 
entreating him not to expose a beloved child to spend her life 
in hopeless regret for lost liberty. He was greatly moved by 



AGAINST POPERY. 



357 



my reasons; but the impression I made was soon obliterated. 
The day for Maria Francisca's taking the veil was at length 
fixed, and though I had a most pressing invitation to be pres- 
ent at the ceremony, I determined not to see the wretched 
victim at the altar. On the preceding day, I was called from 
my stall at the Royal Chapel, to the confessional. A lady, 
quite covered by her black veil, was kneeling at the grate 
through which females speak to the confessor. As soon as I 
took my seat, the well-known voice of Maria Francisca made 
me start with surprise. Bathed in tears, and scarcely able to 
speak without betraying her state to the people who knelt near 
the confessional box, by the sobs which interrupted her words ; 
she told me she wished only to unburden her heart to me, be- 
fore she shut herself up for life. Assistance, she assured me, 
she would not receive ; for rather than live with her mother, 
and endure the obloquy to which her swerving from her an- 
nounced determination would expose her, ' she would risk the 
salvation of her soul.' All my remonstrances were in vain. 
I offered to obtain the protection of the Archbishop, and there- 
by to extricate her from the difficulties in which she was in- 
volved. She declined my offer, and appeared as resolute as 
she was wretched. The next morning she took the veil; and 
professed at the end of the following year. Her good aunt 
died soon after; and the Nuns, who had allured her into the 
convent by their caresses, when they perceived that she was 
not able to disguise her misery, and feared that the existence 
of a reluctant Nun might by her means transpire, became her 
daily tormentors. 

" After an absence of three years from Seville, I found that 
Maria Francisca had openly declared her aversion to a state 
from which nothing but death could save her. She often 
changed her confessors, expecting comfort from their advice. 
At last she found a friend in one of the companions of my 
youth; a man whose benevolence surpasses even the bright 
genius with which nature has gifted him ; though neither has 
been able to exempt him from the evils to which Spaniards 
seem to be fated in proportion to their worth. He became her 
confessor, and in that capacity spoke to her daily. But what 
could he do against the inflexible tyranny in whose grasp she 
languished ! 

" About this time the approach of Napoleon's army threw 
the town into a general consternation, and the convents were 
opened to such of the Nuns as wished to fly. Maria Francis- 
ca, whose parents were absent, put herself under the protec- 



358 



PRESERVATIVE 



tion of a young prebendary of the Cathedral, and by his 
means reached Cadiz, where I saw her on my way to England. 
I shall never forget the anguish with which, after a long con- 
versation, wherein she disclosed to me the whole extent of her 
wretchedness, she exclaimed, There is no hope for me! and 
fell into convulsions. 

" The liberty of Spain from the French invaders was the 
signal for the fresh confinement of this helpless young woman 
to her former prison. Here she attempted to put an end to her 
sufferings by throwing herself into a deep well ; but was taken 
out alive. Her mother was now dead, and her friends institu- 
ted a suit of nullity of profession, before the ecclesiastical 
court. But the laws of the Council of Trent were positive; 
and she was cast in the trial. Her despair, however, exhaust- 
ed the little strength which her protracted sufferings had left 
her, and the unhappy Maria Francisca died soon after, having 
scarcely reached her twenty-fifth year." 

R. Sir, the history of your unfortunate friend is so horrible, 
that I wonder how w r hole nations can conspire to support a 
tyranny wicked enough to sacrifice not only the body, but the 
soul of the helpless creatures who fall into its snares. I know 
that God is infinitely merciful ; but does it not strike you that 
the Pope and his Church, provided they keep their slaves, do 
not care if they are driven to suicide, and all the sins which 
follow and attend despair? 

A. I know that the Pope and his Counsellors are perfectly 
indifferent about moral evils which arise from the laws which 
keep up the appearance of infallibility in their Church. — 
Rather than alter her law of celibacy, Rome has allowed her 
Clergy to be for many ages exposed to the most fatal tempta- 
tions; and for the most part to be involved in the guilt of many 
a secret, and many an open sin, which might be avoided by 
the repeal of that law. 

R. Does not the Pope ever dispense with the law of ce- 
libacy. 

A. Rome, my friend, never draws back but when fear com- 
pels her. The only dispensation I ever heard of, was obtained 
by Buonaparte for Talleyrand, a French Bishop. The whole 
history of Papal Rome proves, that nothing but absolute com- 
pulsion will ever make her change her conduct. Even when 
the Popes have been forced to yield to necessity, they have al- 
ways done it in sullen silence, and never by publicly disclaim- 
ing even their most unjustifiable and tyrannical laws. At this 
moment, when the Pope knows that by a short declaration he 



AGAINST POPERY. 



359 



should instantly remove all the difficulties which oppose the 
termination of what is called the Catholic Question, and dis- 
pel the well-grounded fears which most Protestants have of 
the admission of Roman Catholics to seats in Parliament, — • 
the Pope lets them struggle on towards the object of their am- 
bition : with the view, no doubt, of reminding them, in case they 
should gain the point, that it is the duty of every spiritual son 
of Rome, to exert himself in the destruction of Protestantism, 
and consequently so to behave themselves in Parliament, as to 
undermine the foundations of every Christian denomination 
which does not acknowledge the Pope as the Vicar of Christ 
on earth. 

R. I know, Sir, many Roman Catholics who are most ex- 
cellent people, and who appear to bear no malice against the 
religion of their neighbors. 

A. I have no doubt that there are many such persons among 
them: but am equally certain that every spiritual subject of 
the Pope is bound to oppose Protestantism, by the same con- 
scientious principle which makes him a Roman Catholic. — 
Why is he a Romanist? Because he thinks the Pope's reli- 
gion the safest way to save his soul. Would he then endan- 
ger that soul by acting against the principles of that religion, 
merely for the sake of the Protestants. 

11. I wish you would tell me the real belief of the Church 
of Rome with regard to Protestants. 

A. The Church of Rome declares as positively as she does 
the doctrine of the Trinity, and the Death and Resurrection 
of our Saviour, that there is no salvation out of her pale ; that 
is to say, that the promises of the Gospel are exclusively 
made to those who acknowledge the Pope as the representa- 
tive of Christ. This doctrine has been repeatedly established 
by the highest authority of the Church of Rome, which is the 
Pope and his Bishops met in council. The same authority 
has declared and bound all Roman Catholics to believe, that 
every person who has received baptism, either in their church, 
or out of it, is obliged to obey all the precepts of the holy 
Church, either written or delivered hy tradition; and that who- 
ever denies that such baptized persons should not be forced to 
obey those precepts by any other punishment than that of ex- 
communication, is to be accursed. Such is the declaration of 
the Council of Trent,* whose infallibility no Roman Catho- 
lic can disbelieve. He is therefore accursed by the Church 
of Rome who supports religious ^toleration. Nothing, conse- 
♦Session VII. Canon IV. and XIV. 



360 



PRESERVATIVE 



quently, can be more evident, than that sincere Roman Cath- 
olics are bound to be intolerant; for the Roman Catholic reli- 
gion does not consist only in believing certain doctrines, but 
in believing them in obedience to that Church of which the 
Pope is the head. The sincere Roman Catholic cannot there- 
fore explain away the practical consequences of his creed.— 
He believes what his church believes : his church believes 
that whoever denies that baptized persons should be forced to 
obey the traditions of Rome, is accursed; he must therefore 
deem himself accursed if he omits any opportunity of forcing 
people into the Romish communion. Besides, if you see the 
Roman Catholics incessantly at work to make converts by 
persuasion, because their church declares it to be their duty 
to snatch the souls of Protestants from eternal damnation ; how 
can you suppose that, if they had power, they would not use 
it for the same purpose and under the same authority ? But 
we are not left to inferences and conjectures upon this sub- 
ject. The Church of Rome is so fully determined to impress 
upon her children their duty of forcing Romanism upon all 
who may be under their influence, that she enjoins that intol- 
erant principle under an oath. The most solemn declaration 
of the Romanist Faith ends in words which, translated into 
English, are as follow : " Tliis true Catholic Faith, out of which 
none can he saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, 
I promise, vow, and swear, to retain (with God^s assistance) 
whole and entire to my life'' send, and to procure to the extent of 
my power, that all my subjects, or those who, by virtue of my of- 
fice, may he under my care, shall hold, teach, and preach the 
same?" 1 This oath was framed by the Council of Trent, with 
a determination to tender it to all persons in power; and is 
taken, even in this Protestant kingdom, by all Romans, Bish- 
ops and dignitaries. If this be not a proof, that checking 
and opposing every religion but that of the Pope, is consider- 
ed a strict duty by the . Church of Rome, all sound reasoning 
is at an end. 

R. Do you suppose that any free-born Briton could approve 
of any thing like the Inquisition? 

A. I have a very high opinion of the British character; but, 
on the other hand, I am too well acquainted with the baneful 
effects of the Roman Catholic religion upon the mind. I hope 
that few among the subjects of Great Britain are, in their 
hearts, abetters of that darling of the Romish Church — the 
Inquisition. But I know, that a dignified Spanish Clergy- 
man, who was in London a few years ago, met with English 



AGAINST POPERY. 



361 



Roman Catholics who declared their approbation of the Inqui- 
sition. In the preface to a history of that infamous tribunal, 
which he published in the year 1818, he has the words which 
I am going to give you translated from the French: "During 
my residence in London, I heard some Roman Catholics say, 
that the Inquisition was useful in Spain for the preservation of 
the Catholic Faith; and that it would have been well for France 
if it had had a similar establishment."* This he asserts, not 
to attack the Roman Catholics, for he died in the communion 
of their Church, but as a simple fact. 
R. I am quite surprised ! 

A. I am not surprised at all. It is when I hear of Roman 
Catholics who engage not to persecute Protestants, even if 
they had the power, that I am seized with astonishment. — 
How can the spiritual children of Rome be so unlike their 
mother? Was it not the church of Rome that in Spain, urged 
the burning of thirty-one thousand nine hundred and twelve dis- 
senters from her doctrines, and that punished with imprison- 
ment, fine, confiscation, and public infamy, two hundred and 
ninety-one thousand four hundred and fifty, who saved their 
lives by recantation ? Was it not by the same authority that 
in this kingdom of England, and during the four years of the 
reign of Queen Mary, two hundred and eighty persons were 
burnt alive ; the number of those who perished in prison, for 
not turning Papists, being unknown? If this sanguinary 
church acknowledged her error, if she confessed that she was 
misled by the ignorance and bigotry of old times, (though she 
herself had undoubtedly caused that ignorance and bigotry,) 
we might believe that her children had also put off their per- 
secuting character. But when has mortal man heard that 
the Church of Rome ever whispered a regret for the torrents 
of blood with which she has drenched the earth? Her Span- 
ish Inquisition existed till within the last five years. The 
Pope restored it in 1814, and his Bishops are at this moment 
doing every thing to revive it. But what is the existence or 
abolition of the Inquisition, but a mere external symptom of 
power or want of it, to put the invariable principle of Roman- 
ist intolerance into practice ? The cruel deeds of the Romish 
Church are nothing but a republication, in blood, of the ar- 
ticles of her Faith stamped in every copy of the decrees of 
Trent. How then can I believe that sincere Roman Catho- 
lics have renounced persecution? When a man's hopes of 

*Llorente's History of the Spanish Inquisition. Paris edition, 1818, vol. I. 
p. xxii. 

2 H 



362 



PRESERVATIVE AGAINST POPERY. 



eternal happiness are bound up in a persecuting creed, he may 
indulge in toleration as he does in sin, under a sense of spirit- 
ual danger, and a hope of future amendment : in the hey-day 
of life he will be for letting every man have his way; but I 
would not trust my liberty and my life into his hands, differ- 
ing, as I do, from his creed, when he turns his thoughts to 
religion, and begins his course of Romish repentance. 

R. I had never till now believed that intolerance and per- 
secution could be taught by Christians as necessary for sal- 
vation. 

A. One benefit, I trust in God's grace, you will at least 
derive from the clear proofs I have given you, that such is the 
doctrine of the church of Rome. Convinced as you must be, 
that she makes persecution an essential part of her creed, 
you will bear that fact in mind, if ever her emissaries should 
try their arts to seduce you from your Protestant profession.' — 
Whenever you shall hear the often told story of St. Peter and 
his Primacy, you have only to remember the tyrannous doc- 
trine and conduct of the Popes which have grown out of that 
threadbare fiction. Compare the government of the pretend- 
ed successors of Peter, with the model of a Christian Pastor, 
which Peter himself has left in his first Epistle. " Feed," 
he says, " the flock of God which is among you, taking the 
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly ; not for 
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords 
over god's heritage, but by being ensamples to the flock."* 
There needs not much learning to rebut all the pretensions of 
the Romish Church, when you compare herPopish'government 
with this passage. You have only to remember the constraint 
and bloodshed by which the Popes obtained at one time the 
oversight of the flock of God : the filthy lucre which at this 
very day is the effect of their indulgences and dispensations ; 
and lastly, to observe the lordly manner in which they still 
claim the spiritual dominion of this and all other countries 
which have shaken off their tyrannical and usurped authority. 
Remember all this, and beware, my friend, of the guiles and 
arts of a Church, which, even at this moment, looks upon 
you and your brother Protestants as runaway slaves, whom 
she does not punish, from mere want of power; and rest as- 
sured, that where there is so much spirit of pride and ambi- 
tion, the Christian spirit must have been nearly quenched. 



* 1 Peter v. 2. 3.; 



DEFECTS OCCURRING IN THE MASS. 



NO. I. 

Acurious extract from the Roman Missal, p. 53, &c. " re- 
specting Defects occurring in the Mass." Thayer's Con- 
tro. p. 71. 79. 

£ Mass may be defective in the Matter to be consecrated, in 
the form to be used, and in the officiating Minister. For if in 
any of these there be any defect, viz. due Matter, Form, with 
Intention, and Priestly Orders in the celebrator, there is no 
sacrament consecrated.' 

The defects in the bread. 

1st. " If the bread be not of wheat, or if of wheat, if it be 
mixed with such quantity of other grain, that it doth not re- 
main wheaten bread,- or if it be in any way corrupted, it doth 
not make a sacrament." 

2d. ' If it be made with rose or other distilled water, 'tis 
doubtful if it make a sacrament. 

3d. 'If it begin to corrupt, but is not corrupted: also, if it 
be not unleavened according to the custom of the Latin 
Church, it makes a sacrament; but the Priest sins grievously. 

Of the defects of the Wine. 

i If the wine be quite sour, or putrid, or be made of bitter 
or unripe grapes : or if so much water be mixed with it, as 
spoils the wine, no sacrament is made. 

6 If after the consecration of the body, or even of the wine, 
the defect of either kind be discovered, one being consecrated ; 
then, if the matter which should be placed cannot be had, to 
avoid scandal, he must proceed. 

The defects in the form. 
" If any one shall leave out, or change any part of the form 
of the consecration of the body and blood, and in the change 
of the words, such words do not signify the same thing, there 
is no consecration. 

The defects of the Minister. 
" The defects on the part of the Minister, may occur in 
these things required in him. These are first and especially 

363 



364 



DEFECTS OCCURRING 



Intention, after that disposition of soul, of body, of vestments, 
and disposition in the service itself, as to those matters which 
can occur in it. 

"If any one intend not to consecrate, but to counterfeit; 
also, if any wafers remain forgotten on the altar, or if any part 
of the wine, or any wafer lie hidden, when he did not intend 
to consecrate but what he saw; also, if he shall have before 
him eleven wafers and intended to consecrate but ten only, 
not determining what ten he meant, in all these cases the 
consecration fails, because Intention is required." 

Reader, Art thou not astonished? It is admitted 1st, That 
to offer up a false Mass to God, or take a false sacrament, or 
worship a false host, is sacrilegious, and is damnable idolatry ; 
2d, that one case is doubtful, but twelve are certain, in any 
one of which, the consecration fails, and there is no true sa- 
crament, and then the Mass service is sacrilege and idolatry ! ! 
And should the priest, as he serves, discover any of these de- 
fects, but can't mend it, he must proceed, rather than let the 
people understand it, and therefore plunge them and himself 
into these miseries! Has Christ, I ask, ever taught such 
principles ? And, if to guard against these dangers, is plainly 
impossible ; then, for any man to be safe in that church must 
be clearly impossible. But let us see the rest of it. 

£ Should the consecrated host disappear, either by accident, 
or by wind, or miracle, or be swallowed by some animal, and 
cannot be found; then let another be consecrated.' 

c If after consecration, a gnat, a spider, or any such thing, 
fall into the chalice, let the Priest swallow it with the blood, 
if he can; but if he fear danger and have a loathing, let him 
take it out, and wash it with wine, and when Mass is ended, 
burn it, and cast it and the washing into holy ground.' 

' If poison fall into the chalice, or what might cause vomit- 
ing, let the consecrated wine be put into another cup, and 
other wine with water be again placed to be consecrated, and 
when Mass is finished, let the blood be poured on linen 
cloth, or tow, remain till it be dry, and then be burned, and the 
ashes be thrown into holy ground.' 

< If the host be poisoned, let another be consecrated and 
used, and that be kept in a tabernacle, or a separate place 
until it be corrupted, and after that be thrown into holy ground. 

( If in winter the blood be frozen in the cup, put warm 
cloths about the cup ; if that will not do, let it be put into boil- 
ing water near the altar, till it be melted, taking care it does 
not get into the cup.' 



IN THE MASS. 



365 



4 If any of the blood of Christ fall on the ground by negli- 
gence, it must be licked up with the tongue, the place be suffi- 
ciently scraped, and the scrapings burned j but the ashes must 
be buried in holy ground.' 

6 If the Priest vomit the Eucharist, and the species appear 
entire, he must piously swallow it again, but if a nausea pre- 
vent him, then let the consecrated species be cautiously sepa- 
rated, and put by in some holy place till they be corrupted, 
and after, let them be cast into holy ground • but if the species 
do not appear, the vomit must be burned and the ashes thrown 
into holy ground.' — Marvellous! 

The oath of the Papal Clergy is, " that the Host is Christ- 
body and blood, soul and divinity," (see their creed;) yet 
they confess, as above, this cannot be known, how desperate 
then is such oath ! By this document they inform us, that 
their Host (i. e.) Christ, can be lost by accident or by wind, or 
be eaten by animals, as mites, or mice, or dogs, &c. or by 
the spider or fly which may fall into the cup, and which the 
priest must swallow if he can ; or that he may be bound up in 
frost, and be released by hot water, &c. or be poisoned, and 
poured on tow, and dried, and then must be burned j or may 
fall, or be spilled and licked off the ground by the priest's 
tongue, and be swallowed, and may be eaten by him and vom- 
ited up again, and then must be taken out of the vomit, and be 
worshipped, and devoutly swallowed again ! Shocking infat- 
uation. Now will not common sense itself, ask, Do any of 
these things ever happen to the true Christ, the son of Mary? 
Has he been ever swallowed by spiders, or flies, mites, mice, 
or by priests, or lain in their vomit? Has he been ever frozen 
up in a cup, or poured out on tow, and burned? if not, then, 
Christ was not thus eaten by flies, rats, mice, priests, &c. &c. 
and, nevertheless, he was eaten by them, which involves many 
contradictions or falsehoods. But if the true Christ be not 
thus eaten by these things — the host, which, it is confessed, 
may meet all these accidents, is not the true, but a fictitious 
papal Christ. Had not these hideous doctrines and monstrous 
and degrading absurdities, been thus written, and openly 
avowed and defended in their own books, so that with our own 
eyes we can behold them, who could be persuaded to believe, 
that any church or society of rational beings, could for a mo- 
ment entertain them? Strong indeed must be that delusion 
by which the Papal Doctors are thus so deeply infatuated and 
corrupted, as to adhere to such a religion! 

2h2 



366 



DEFECTS OCCURRING 



NO. II. 

The Trent Creed under Pope Pius IV. to which the Papal 
Clergy are bound by oath. 

The Bull of Pius IV. by divine providence, Pope, relative 
to the form of oath or the profession of the faith. 

Pius, Bishop, the servant of the servants of God, for the 
perpetual remembrance of this deed. 

"Injunctum nobis Apostolical servitutis officium, fyc. v " The 
office of our apostolical ministry enjoins us to hasten and exe- 
cute these decisions of the holy fathers, with which the Al- 
mighty God has, for the good of his church, inspired them, &c. 
Whereas, therefore, by the decree of the Council of Trent, all 
pastors who shall henceforth be placed over cathedrals and su- 
perior churches and their dependencies, or who, entrusted with 
the care of souls, are provided for, must be obliged to make 
public profession of the orthodox faith, and to promise and 
swear, that they will continue obedient to the church of Rome : 
We, desirous, that all this should be diligently attended to by 
all so entrusted, and in whatsoever department, whether in 
monasteries, convents, houses, and such like places, whether 
called regular, military, or by what name soever, and that the 
profession of the same faith might be uniformly exhibited to 
all, and that one only and certain form of it, might be made 
known to all men, and published in every nation, by those 
whom, under the prescribed penalties, it concerns, strictly com- 
mand, by our apostolical authority, that the following afore- 
said profession of faith be solemnly made, according to this 
form only, &c. 

"Ego, N.JirmaJide credo, 8$c. — I, N. firmly believe and pro- 
fess all and every thing contained in this Creed, which the ho- 
ly Roman Church useth, viz. 

" I believe in one God, Father Almighty, maker of heaven 
and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one 
Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God — by whom all 
things were made j who for us men, and for our salvation, came 
down from heaven, and was incarnated by the Holy Ghost of 
the Virgin Mary, and was made man ; was crucified also for us 
under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried; and rose 
again the third day, according to the Scriptures ; and ascended 
into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father ; 
and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the 
dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end; and in the 
Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, &c. — and one holy, 
Catholic, and apostolic church," &c. 



IN THE MASS. 



367 



The oath on Schoolmasters and Doctors — 

" Ad hoc omnes ii ad quos universitatum? 8$c. "Moreover, 
all those to whom the care, visitation or reform of universities 
and general studies belong, must take diligent care, that the ca- 
nons and decrees of this holy synod, be received entire by 
these universities, and that according to these rules, the mas- 
ter, doctors, and other teachers in such universities, may teach 
and interpret those things which belong to the Catholic faith, 
and that they bind themselves by a solemn oath, in the begin- 
ning of each year, to this observance." C. Trent, Sess. xxv. 
cap. 2. 

Thus, by these authentic documents, it is evident, that the 
Papal Clergy are obliged to be sworn on the Gospels, three 
times; 1st. to the Church of Rome, 2d. to the Pope, and 3d. 
to believe and propagate her doctrines, and, by the same oaths, 
to oppose every thing contrary thereto, — (and so were school- 
masters sworn.) This accounts for that constant watch they 
keep lest the people should hear or read any doctrine but their 
own, lest they should get enlightened. How ignorant of 
all this craft are the people kept, and how astonishing, if not 
miraculous, that the Gospel of truth has broken forth from 
all those dire and ingenious trammels. 

Observations on the above Papal Creed and its notorious con- 
tradictions. 

Obser. 1 — The Council of Nice, which in 325 framed the 
Nicene Creed, pronounces in one of its canons, any man, that 
shall thenceforth add any more articles of faith than those then 
specified, accursed. And Pope Celestine, an. 423, in his Epis- 
tle to Nestorious in defence of that creed, has these words, " Who 
is not adjudged worthy of an anathema, that either adds or takes 
away from it? For, that faith which was declared by the apos- 
tles requires neither addition or diminution." But the Coun- 
cil of Trent and Pope Pius, in 1564, fear not, in the face of 
all this, to add 12 new articles at a stroke, nor once blush to 
pronounce those who shall presume to refuse them, accursed. 
And although these Councils thus contradict and curse each 
other, yet the Papal Doctors are sworn to believe and teach 
both are infallible ! ! And that although both creeds plainly 
contradict one another, as shall presently appear, yet they are 
nevertheless one and the same true faith! risum teneatis! 

Obser. 2. — The old part of this creed declares, "Christ was 
incarnated by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was 
made man." But in the 5th article of the new part of the 



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same, it is defined and declared, " that Christ's body and blood 
are really, substantially, and truly made, by consecration, of 
the whole substance of the bread, and of the whole substance 
of the wine." Here then are two sorts of Christ's from entire- 
ly different sources, exhibited in one compound creed. By 
one part thereof, Christ was born, crucified and suffered, was 
buried, rose again, ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right 
hand of God, and shall come to judge all men, &c. But, by the 
other, he was not born, but made of bread, &c. nor did any of 
these things ! and yet the Papal Clergy are sworn, to believe 
and teach they are the same ! As all these contradictions are, 
to be sure, divine truths ! so, their people, rational beings, must 
believe it, because their clergy direct them to do so!!! 

Observ. 3/ — By the 1st article, traditions, and Papal Decrees, 
&c. (mere inventions of men) must be admitted and embraced 
too; but by the 2d, the holy scripture is, coldly, to be admit- 
ted only, not embraced, and that under most severe and cau- 
tious restrictions. — Who can forbear noticing this? And when 
we turn to, Sess. iv. Decretum de Edit. &c. An. 1546, and to 
the rules, de libris prohibitis, framed by the Council in March, 
1564, their dread of the scriptures, it is manifest, cannot be 
concealed. From her index, take the following extracts — 

Rule 4. Cum experimento manifestum sit, S$c. — " Whereas, 
it is plain by experience, were the holy scriptures read every 
where in the vulgar tongue, more injury than good would fol- 
low, yet if permission to read translations of the Bible made 
by Catholics only, may be safely granted to some, who by 
such reading may reap godly benefit, must .rest with the judg- 
ment of the bishop or inquisitor, together with the counsel of 
their parish priest. In such cases it may be given, but they 
must have a license from the bishop in writing. Qui autem 
absque tali facultate ea legere seu habere presumserit, nisi pri- 
us bibliis ordinario redditis, peccatorum absolutionem preci- 
pere non posset, 8$c. "But he that without such license, shall 
presume to read or have such books, unless he instantly de- 
liver them up to the ordinary, cannot be capable of the forgive- 
ness of his sins. And the bookseller, who without such li- 
cense, shall sell or otherwise grant the bible in the vulgar 
tongue, &c. shall forfeit the price of the books, and be other- 
wise punished at the bishop's discretion, according to the na- 
ture of his offence — nor may the monks, without such license 
from their Prelates, read or buy them. 

Rule X. — " Liberum tamen Episcopis, &c." — "But, yet, 
the Bishops or Inquisitors general, are by their license, which 



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they have authorized to prohibit in their kingdoms, provinces, 
or dioceses, those very books that appear to be permitted by 
those rules, if they shall judge fit." So, after all the pains of 
procuring this said license, it can be rendered null in an in- 
stant, and then the Bible must not be read. 

Ad extremum vero omnibus Jidelibus, &$c. — "Lastly, the 
faithful are commanded, that none must dare read or have any 
books contrary to the prescribed rules of this Index; but if any 
one shall read or have books of heretics, or of any author on 
heresy, or condemned and prohibited on suspicion of false 
dogmas, he instantly incurs the sentence of excommunication. 
And he that shall read or have books of any name that are so 
forbidden him, besides the guilt of mortal sin into which he 
falls, he must be severely punished, according to the judg- 
ment of the Bishops." 

Behold how difficult it has been to obtain leave to read the 
word of God, even when translated by Roman Catholics them- 
selves! See what dread this church ever had of the Bible. — 
Thank God ! the darkness is greatly passed, and the true light 
is increasing. 

Obser. 4. — This 3d new article of faith is unqualified jar- 
gon ; for, seven christian sacraments, (as per. Sess. VII. Can. 
I.) are insisted on, as instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which is proved false. 

Holy Orders and Ext. Unction clearly destroy each other ; 
and if no sacrament can be without Christ's own institution, 
such as Baptism and the Eucharist alone have, then, none of 
the other five are christian sacraments, because, for them no 
institution from Christ can be found — "The matter or visible 
sign of Holy Orders," says Challenor, (p. 131, C. Chris. Inst.) 
"is imposition of hands by a Bishop and prayer, and the insti- 
tution is from Luke xxii. 19. Do this in remembrance of me," 
but Christ never laid his hands on the Apostles to make them 
Priests, nor commanded it ; (nor ever made them Priests, as is 
proved, p. 156.) Hence Holy Orders, being without sign, 
matter, or institution from Christ, is no christian sacrament, 
but a papal fiction. 

"As to Penance," says Challenor, p. 94. "it consists of con- 
trition, confession and satisfaction, and the Priest's absolution. 
Confession, is a full and sincere accusation made to a Priest, 
of all mortal sins, a person can remember : and satisfaction is 
a faithful performance of the penance enjoined by the Priests, 
p. 163 — which penance is enjoined, as an exchange which God 
makes of the eternal punishments which we have deserved by 



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DEFECTS OCCURRING 



sin, into these small penitential works, p. 104. — Yet it is to be 
feared that the penance enjoined is seldom sufficient to take 
off all the punishment due to God's justice on account of our 
sins." p. 105. The penitent after confession, must say, 'I beg 
pardon of God, and penance and absolution from you, my 
ghostly father,' and the Priest then gives the absolution, and 
adds, "May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits 
of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saints, and whatsoever 
good thou shalt do, or whatsoever evil thou shalt suffer, be to 
thee unto the remission of thy sins, the increase of grace, &c." 
Most shocking and anti-scriptural doctrine ! 

If Christ's death on the cross be a full, and the only satis- 
faction for all sin, and that his precious merits and interces- 
sion alone, be the sinner's only hope, as is testified by all the 
sacred writers ; and if a wretched sinner, the moment he be- 
lieves this, and submitting himself to Christ, calls upon his 
name, "hath everlasting life, passes from death unto life, and 
shall not come into condemnation," John v. 24. Rom. viii. 1.; 
If "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin," 1 John,i. 
7. If "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, 
not imputing their trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19.; And 
if "all that believe in Christ with a heart unto righteousness, 
are justified from all things." Acts xiii. 39; the above doctrine 
must be false. Besides, if Christ never appointed any such 
private confession of mortal sin, nor any such penance or ab- 
solution, nor any visible sign of any such sacrament, nor was 
any such thing ever practised by the apostles, and hence, that 
it is therefore only a papal fiction, what can be imagined more 
blasphemous against Christ, and subversive of his gospel, 
more delusive to a sinner, and destructive of his true hope and 
salvation, and at the same time, more pharisaic and better cal- 
culated to enhance the Priest's power over the people, than 
the above mischievous , and anti-christian doctrine of papal 
penance. Yet, after all the parade about it, the hopes excited 
of its many and great benefits, p. 102, they grant, "If the 
Priest, to whom this confession is made, has not the necessary 
faculties and approbation, and also true intention, the penance 
is null." But these things are impossible to be known or 
guarded against by Priests or people j hence, such penance is 
extreme folly. But repentance towards God, and faith in 
Christ, is the only safe and gospel way; this can deceive no 
man. 

With regard to Invocation of Saints, in addition to what has 



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371 



been already said, its novelty and impiety are set forth by the 
following striking testimonies. 

"Saith St. Augustine, de civ. Dei I. 8. Si rex constituent in- 
tercessorem, fyc. — "When a king has constituted one certain 
intercessor, he is not pleased that any causes should be brought 
him by others. So, as Christ is appointed our High Priest and 
Intercessor, why do we seek others ? 

"Solent tamen pudorem," &c. saith St. Ambrose, "The 
Heathen Idolaters, to cover the shame of neglecting God, used 
this miserable excuse, that by these mediators they might go 
to God, as by his officers we may approach a king." 

"Go to, is any man so mad, or unmindful of his own safety, 
as to give the king's honor to his officers? whereas, if any be 
found even to treat of such a matter, they are justly condemn- 
ed as guilty of insulting the king's majesty. It is for this rea- 
son that men go to a king by tribunes or officers, because the 
king is but a man, and knoweth not to whom he should entrust 
the commonwealth. But to procure the favor of God, from 
whom nothing is hid, and who knows the qualities of all men, 
we need no spokesman but a devout mind." — Ambros ad Cap. 
1. ad Rom. # 

Says St. Chrysostom, "when tfyou hast need to sue unto 
man, thou art forced first to deal with door-keepers, and en- 
treat parasites and such like persons to go with thee a long 
way about ; epi de tou theou ouden toiouton estin, but with God 
there is no such thing; without money, without cost, he yield- 
eth to thy prayer." Serm. 1. de pcenit. And. again, Ora gu- 
naikos philosophia, &c. "Mark," says he, "the wisdom of the 
woman of Canaan, she entreateth not James, nor beseecheth 
John, nor cometh to Peter, but brake through the whole com- 
pany of them, saying, 'I have no need of such mediators, but 
taking repentance with me for a spokesman, I come to the 
fountain itself; for this cause did he take flesh that I might 
have boldness to speak to him. I have no need of a mediator; 
have thou mercy on me.' " — Dimissum Chanaan. Tom. 5. 

Thus, these Fathers, who lived so near the Apostle's days, 
judged it idolatry, madness, and the height of impiety against 
God, when he has appointed Christ, his son, our high priest 
and only mediator, (who is ever ready and present to receive 
all sinners who humbly call upon him, and to hear their pray- 
ers,) to have recourse, nevertheless, to the intercession of an- 
gels or departed saints, "which manner," saith Chrysostom, 
"came in through the envy of the devil." 

I must notice the Papal doctrine of Baptism by Bossuet and 



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the Trent Council, "As infants cannot supply the want of 
Baptism, by acts of faith, hope and charity, nor by the earnest 
desire of receiving this sacrament, we believe if they do not 
really receive it, they have no share in the grace of the redemp- 
tion, and thus dying in Adam, they have no inheritance with 
Jesus ChristP Con. Trid. Sess. vi. cap. 4. Bossuet. Expos, p. 
42. Dublin. Edit. 1821. 

Thus has the Papacy and its Doctors, to subserve their own 
purposes, poisoned almost every part of the christian religion. 
As this astonishing "Exposition" is as contrary to scripture, as 
it is insulting to common sense, and fraught with such incon- 
ceivable impiety, I shall now proceed briefly, by reason and 
scripture, to destroy it. 

Arg. 1. — The just and merciful God does not require impos- 
sibilities. To say he does, is to say he is unjust and cruel, 
which is blasphemy. But to most infants, Baptism is totally, 
and to all, personally impossible. Hence, can no blame attach 
to them, and they can suffer nothing for dying unbaptized ; and 
hence to affirm, "that such unbaptised infants have no share 
in the grace of redemption, nor with Christ," as the Papacy 
and its doctors do, is to teach, God is unjust and cruel, which, 
as it insults reason, so is it monstrous blasphemy against God's 
mercy and justice ! 

Arg. 2. — That God instituted Baptism in the Christian 
Church, as he did circumcision in the Jewish, cannot be fairly 
denied ; yet neither of them was absolutely essential to salva- 
tion; for, if it appear, the latter was not so, particularly that 
of infants, so neither can the former be. Circumcision was 
rather a sign of that of the heart, and a seal of the covenant, 
as St. Paul argues, Rom. ii. 26, and also as a distinction from 
the heathen world ; for these uses, and because God command- 
ed it, it was necessary, yet not essential to salvation ; other- 
wise, all the infants that died before they were eight days old, 
were, by God's own will and fault, and contrary to his will and 
word, excluded from Christ's redemption, and heaven! which 
to affirm, involves unequivocal blasphemy. For, by his com- 
mand, no child was circumcised before eight days old ; and He 
declares "he willeth not that any should perish,'''' 2 Peter iii. 9. 
And Christ says, "that all infants are of the kingdom of heav- 
en?'' Luke xviii. 16. — Now, if all the Jewish infants who died 
before eight days old, were fully saved without the sacrament 
of circumcision, so, (if "God be no respecter of persons,' 1 '' as 
St. Peter says,) must all the infants of christians who may 
happen to die without Baptism, be saved likewise. If to con- 



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373 



tradict this, is blasphemy against God, so therefore is Bossuet's, 
and the Trent doctrine, "that unbaptised infants can have no 
part in Christ's redemption, nor in heaven" a fiat contradiction 
to truth, and palpable blasphemy. 

Arg. 3. — St. Paul tells us, "that although condemnation 
came by one man, even Adam's offence, Christ brought justi- 
fication to life to all men ; and that no sin is imputed where 
there is no law," Rom. v. 18. — 2 Cor. v. 19, But infants 
know not any law, and, therefore, according to St. Paul, no 
sin can be imputed to them; again, u the son shall not bear the 
sin of the father" except the son himself do evil. — Ezek. xviii. 
20. Hence can no infant suffer for any sin. Once more, the 
holy Virgin and the Apostles tell us, u that GooVs mercy is on 
them that fear him — that glory, honor, and peace shall be on 
even the Gentile that worketh good, for God is no respecter of 
persons." Luke i. 50.— Rom. ii. 10—15, 26.— Acts x. 34, 35. 
If then such God-fearing Gentiles are saved without circumci- 
sion or baptism, as these affirm, so must their infants also. — 
Hence, to teach, "that the infants of Christians dying without 
Baptism, have no part in redemption, nor in heaven, is to con- 
tradict the Apostles and the holy Virgin, and all reason and 
scripture, and to be guilty of hideous impiety. And hence, 
what Christ says in John iii. 5, as he cannot require impossi- 
bilities, so it cannot apply to infants, but to those who hear of, 
and refuse baptism and regeneration. 

With regard to confirmation and matrimony, however these 
may be proper, the latter especially as rites, either religious 
or civil, yet, as Christ appointed no visible signs of them, as he 
did of Baptism and Eucharist, how can they be christian Sa- 
craments 1 Impossible ; hence, there are no true christian sa- 
craments but Baptism and Eucharist; and the others, being 
proved Papal fictions, the oath of the clergy "that there are 
seven sacraments appointed by Christ," is most contradictory 
and desperate. 

As pure Christianity, — that rational and holy religion which 
Christ the Lord came to establish on earth, not by force or 
fraud, but by gentleness, prayers, and persuasion, requires 
for its propagation and support, no other weapons but those 
employed and enjoined by him; and, inviting investigation, 
calls for no other aid, but a fair exhibition of its own incompa- 
rable loveliness, and inestimable excellencies, to recommend 
it to man, to lead him into the paths of peace and everlasting 
felicity, and thus at once displays its divine origin : So, that 
system of religion, that, taking a directly contrary course, and 



■ 



374 DEFECTS OCCURRING 

because of its deformity manifestly dreading examination, 
hates the light, dreads the bible, insults reason, and the rights 
of conscience, and has recourse to various wiles, machinations, 
and violences for its support and propagation, unequivocally 
proclaims to all men, it has emanated from a totally different 
source. Viewing, then, by the following additional documents, 
the line of conduct the Papacy has for ages pursued, to sup- 
port itself and propagate its doctrines, the conclusion is most 
obvious, that its fountain is not pure, — is not the God of peace, 
of light, and love. 

NO. III. 

The Oaths to be taken to defend the Papacy. 

The Pope's Oath. — By the general Councils of Constance 
and Basil, it is stated, "That all Popes must be obliged to 
swear that they will uphold and enforce (generalium concilia- 
rum fidem, S$c.) the faith maintained in the general councils, to 
the least tittle, even to the shedding of their blood." Concil. 
Const. Sess. 39, Basil, Sess. 37. 

By the following Councils also, Constance, Sess. 12. 17.37; 
Lyons, Tom. 11. Binii, p. 645. Pisa, Sess. 14. Basil, Sess. 
24. 34. 40. 46, it is expressly decreed, "that the Pope shall 
depose and deprive Sovereign Princes of their dominions, 
their dignity, and honor, for certain misdemeanors," &lc. 

Hear the lofty language of Pope Gregory VIII. "On the 
part of the Omnipotent God, I forbid Henry IV. to govern the 
kingdoms of Italy and Germany; I absolve his subjects from 
all oaths which they have taken, or may take to him; and I ex- 
communicate every person who shall serve him as King." — 
Greg. lib. 5, Epist. 24. 

NO. IV. 

The Pope's Bull, in Ccena Domini, fyc. which per art. 28, 
thereof must be diligently studied by the Clergy, and (per 27 th 
Art.) solemnly published in the Churches once a year or often- 
er; and carefully taught the people, 1638 — Tom. 8, p. 183, 
Constit. 63, Pauli V. — The Excommunication, S$c. 

First Article — "We excommunicate and anathematize, in 
the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and by the 
authority of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and by our 
own, all Wickliffites, Hussites, Lutherans, Calvinists, Hugo- j 
nots, Anabaptists, and all other heretics, by whatsoever name 
they are called, and of whatsoever sect they be ; and also, all 
Schismatics, and those who withdraw themselves, or recede 



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375 



obstinately from the obedience of the Bishop of Rome; as 
also their Adherents, Receivers, Favorers, and generally any 
defenders of them: — together with all who, without the 
authority of the Apostolic See, shall knowingly, read, keep, or 
print, any of their Books which treat on Religion, or by or 
for any cause whatever, publicly or privately, on any pre- 
tence or color defend them." 

The Pope" 1 s joy at the murder of Protestants. 
Pope Gregory XIII. in 1572, upon the massacre in Paris on 
St. Bartholomew's day, caused medals to be struck with this 
inscription about his image, "Gregorius XIII. Pont. Max. An. 
1." and on the reverse side, a destroying angel holding a 
cross in one hand, and in the other, a sword thrusting, with 
these words, "Hugonotorum strages, 1572." "The slaughter 
of the Hugonots." Voyage to Italy, p. 15. An. 1688. See 
Rev. xvii. 6. 

NO. V. 

Bishop's Oath. — In addition to the oaths, stated in the 
Creed, on the priests ; when they become Bishops, they must 
be again sworn. Richerius, an eminent papal divine of the 
15th century, and Doctor of the Sorbonne, observed, "That 
Pope Gregory VII. contrary to the custom used in the church 
for more than a thousand years, introduced that order, "that 
all bishops must swear unlimited fidelity and obedience to the 
pope," whence, says he, Hhe liberty of all succeeding councils 
was taken away." Hist. Concil. lib. c. 38. Rich. Apol. Ax. 22. 

"I, N. N. Bishop elect, of the See of N. do swear, that, from 
this time henceforth, I will be faithful and obedient to the 
blessed Apostle Peter, to the holy Church of Rome, and to 
our Lord the Pope, and his successors canonically appointed. 
I will to my utmost defend, increase, and advance, the rights, 
honors, privileges, and authority of the holy Roman Church 
of our Lord the Pope, and his successors aforesaid. — I will not 
join in any consultation, act or treaty, in which any thing 
shall be plotted to the injury of the rights, honor, state and 
power of our Lord the Pope, or of the said Church. I will 
keep with all my might the rules of the holy Fathers, (i. e. of 
the Council) the Apostolical (Papal) decrees, ordinances, dis- 
posals, reservations, provisions and mandates ; and cause them 
to be observed by others. Heretics, Schismatics, and rebels to 
our said Lord the Pope and his successors aforesaid, I will to 
the utmost of my power persecute and destroy." Sub. Jul. iii. 
An. 1551. 



376 



EXTIRPATION OF HERETICS. 



Bishop's obligation^ {Cone. Benii. Tom. 11. p. 152.) "If 
any Bishop be negligent in purging his diocese of heretical 
pravity, he, by the 3d canon of the 4th Lateran Council, must 
be deprived of his episcopal dignity; and by the Council of 
Constance (Sess. 45. Tom. 7. p. 1122.) and by the Canon 
Law, (Decretal lib. 5. tit. 7. cap. 13.) Bishops, by their above 
oath of consecration, are bound to do so. And the punish- 
ment to be inflicted on the heretics, must be excommunication, 
confiscation of goods, imprisonment, exile, or death," as the 
case may be. Condi. Benii. Tom. 8. 

Concil. Tom. 11. p. 619, "All Inquisitors of heretical prav- 
ity appointed by the Pope, all Archbishops and Bishops, in 
their respective provinces and dioceses, with their officials, 
must search for and apprehend heretics. — The Civil Magis- 
trate must assist them under severe penalties in enquiring 
after, taking, and spoiling them, by sending soldiers with 
them, p. 608. — They can compel the whole neighborhood to 
swear they will inform the Bishops and Inquisitors of any here- 
tics they shall know of, or of any who may favor them. — 
Constit. Innoc. iv. c. 30. 

By Later. IV. Con. Tom. 11. part. 1. p. 152. and Con. Con- 
stance, Sess. 45, Tom. 7. p. 1120. Benii. "Whoever appre- 
hends heretics, which all are at liberty to do, has power to 
take from them all their goods and freely enjoy them." And 
Pope Innocent III. declares, "This punishment we command to 
be executed on them by all Princes and secular powers, who shall 
be compelled to do so by ecclesiastical censures. Decret. 7. 
lib. 5. tit. cap. 10. 

NO. VI. 

On Extirpation of Heretics. 

Oaths on Kings — to extirpate heretics. The 4th Council 
of Lateran, can. 3, has these words — "Pro defensione fidei 
prsestat juramentum, quod de terris suae jurisdictionis subjec- 
tos universos heereticos ab Ecclesia denotatos, bona fide pro 
viribus exterminare studebunt." For the defence of the faith, 
all Princes must swear, that they will, bona fide, most dili- 
gently study to root out of their territories, all their subjects, 
by the Church pronounced heretics, which, should they neg- 
lect to do, they must themselves be excommunicated, and de- 
posed. The Council of Constance confirms this Sess. 45. 

In the 5th Council of Toledo, the Holy Fathers say: "We 
promulge this decree pleasing to God. That whosoever here- 



EXTIRPATION OP HERETICS. 



377 



after shall ascend to the kingdom, shall not ascend the throne 
till he has sworn, among other oaths, to permit no man to live 
in his kingdom, who is not a Catholic; and if, after he has taken 
the reins of government, he shall violate this promise, let him 
be anathema maranatha in the sight of God, and fuel of the 
eternal fire." Caranza, Sum. Concil. p. 404. 

An Edict of Louis XVth of France , published in 1724, con- 
sisting of 18 Articles; the 1st and 2d are as follows: "That 
the Catholic Religion be alone professed in our kingdom; for- 
bidding all our subjects, of what estate, quality, or condition 
soever, to profess any other Religion, or assemble for that pur- 
pose in any place, under any pretence whatever, on pain, of 
Men for the gallies for ever, and Women to be shorn, or shut 
up for ever in such places as our Judges shall think proper, 
with confiscation of goods. 

"We order, that all such Preachers as have convened as- 
semblies, not according to the said C. Religion, or shall have 
preached, or discharged any other function therein, shall be 
punished with death ! — We forbid all our subjects to receive 
such Ministers or Preachers, or to give them any retreat, suc- 
cor, or assistance, or to have any manner of communication 
with them. And we order all who shall have any notice 
thereof, to discover it to the officers of these places; the 
whole on the aforesaid penalties." 

That the Clergy did press this dire law, is notorious, from 
the address of the assembly of Bishops to the King, in 1765. 

"Give, Sire," say they, "Give to the laws all their force, 
and to Religion all its splendor, that the full revival of the 
Edict of 1724, may be the result of our humble remonstran- 
ces. — The plague we complain of, will continue to ravage 
your kingdom, till the press also shall be restrained by laws 
faithfully executed." 

What man, of any name or nation, and in whose breast is 
any of the milk of human kindess, but must shudder at these 
fearful plans and exclaim, How could a church, so desperate 
against Bible Christians, be the mild, holy spouse of Christ? 

A recent Conversation with a Nun 

'Do you believe the sacred writers of the Scripture were 
infallibly inspired? N. 'I do. 1 'If not, you could have no 
true foundation for a divine religion ; would you, after they 
had finished their work, consent to their making any changes 
in it? 'No, for that would be denying they were rendered 
2i2 



378 EXTIRPATION OF HERETICS. 

infallible.' 'In this, you agree with St. Paul, Gal. i. 8. — 'that 
no apostle, angel, or man, must make any alterations in the 
gospel. Now, were not the Apostles the true teaching church V 
'Yes, certainly.' 'But if you would not allow that church, 
even the very apostles, to deviate from the scriptures, on what 
ground can you permit any other church or teachers to deviate 
from them? Hence, the infallible scripture, not any church 
whatever, must be your only safe guide. I shall now prove 
your clergy are on oath to teach you, what yourself know is 
an untruth ! Has there ever been a true, proper, and real sac- 
rifice for sin on earth, but the death of Christ on the cross?" 
'No.' 'What were all the sacrifices from Abel's, till then?' 
'They were typical only.' 'But Christ's last supper or sacra- 
ment, which ye call his mass, being before his death or even 
apprehension, could not, therefore, you own, be more than typi- 
cal or figurative ; yet, your priests are on oath to believe and 
teach "that in the mass, there is a true, proper and propitia- 
tory sacrifice for the living and the dead," which, you see, is a 
plain falsehood !' Said her grand-father, who was present, 
'There, indeed, you have them by the neck.' 'Yes, Sir, and 
they can never get loosed 



NOTES. 



Notices of the Papal Church in the United States. 

From the Quarterly Register of the American Education Society, 
Vol. 2d, 1830. 

The subject announced at the head of this article is one of 
great and increasing importance. Contemplated either in a 
civil or religious view, this is unquestionably the case; but it 
is more especially under the latter that it commends itself to 
the readers of this publication. We shall endeavor, in pur- 
suing it, to bear in mind not only the imperious duty of the 
historian, to exhibit truth, but also that of the patriot and 
christian, to ascertain and feel its connexion and relations. 

But in this paper it is not intended to enter at large into the 
long, protracted, and voluminous controversy with the Church 
of Rome. Such we style her, and are backward to admit her 
title to the usurped but ordinary appellation of 'Catholic.''- — 
This controversy has occasionally occupied, for more than 
three hundred years, some of the most serious minds and 
able pens of Christendom ; and indeed from an earlier age 
there have not been wanting individuals who have succes- 
sively borne testimony against the assumptions, spiritual and 
temporal, of the Roman Court, or Church — terms, in this case, 
commutable — her growing superstitions, preposterous claims, 
and absurd pretensions. 

Yet, while we waive, for the present, a professed entrance 
on this controversy, it is not because we are under no appre- 
hension of evil, nor because we do not feel that it is matter 
of surprise that the evil should be extending its influence so 
widely in our country. For we cannot forget the apprehen- 
sions of our puritan ancestors, and their conscientious op- 
position; nor the sufferings of many who preceded them. 
And it is equally impossible to forget the invaluable privilege 
of possessing God's word, translated and accessible in our 
own language with the liberty of reading, expounding and 
practising its requirements, without fear of molestation. — 
That, in such circumstances, Rome should increase her vota- 
ries from among our freeborn citizens, in numbers almost 
equal to those who came as papists to this country from the 
shores of Europe, is indeed matter of surprise. 

379 



380 



NOTES. 



Our main design is to give a statistical view of Romanists 
in the United States, as has been done in reference to other 
denominations. But, with our opinions and feelings, it will 
be impracticable, and would also, we think, be improper, to 
exhibit such a view without remarks. 

At the outset, however, it is to be distinctly and gratefully 
acknowledged, that, as in our own state government 'every 
denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peacea- 
bly, and as good subjects of the Commonwealth, shall be 
equally under the protection of the law ; and no subordination 
of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be es- 
tablished by law:'* so likewise in the Constitution of the 
United States it is provided, that 'Congress shall make no law 
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof.'! Whatever remarks, therefore, be 
made in reference to that branch of the Church of Rome 
which exists in these States, it is to be considered that they 
have an equal right with ourselves to their own views, and 
opinions, and forms of worship, while they infringe not on the 
rights of others. And, as a consequence, they have an 
equal right with ourselves to publish their own opinions, and 
send out their missionaries to promulgate them through the 
Union, and multiply their converts — it being only the force 
of truth and sound argument, and the influence of a holy and 
useful life, w r hich can justly be allowed to sway the public 
sentiment, and establish the prosperity of any denomination: 
every tendency to the union of the Church and State, in es- 
tablishments professedly religious, militating as much with 
our feelings, as with the spirit of our free constitutions of 
government. 

Nor are the Romanists to be regarded as interlopers in the 
United States. One of the members of this Confederacy was 
indeed originally constituted, in great degree, by individuals 
of that faith. Maryland, settled by Lord Baltimore, was in- 
tended by him as a place of refuge for such, and for their en- 
joyment of religious liberty. However strange, therefore, it 
may seem to us, that our ears are saluted with reports of the 
extension of the Romish Church in this Protestant country — 
we must be prepared to contemplate the fact. 

And why, some are ready to say, is this increase to be de- 
precated? Are we to charge on the modern professors of that 
faith the derelictions of their ancestors ? Shall we hold the 

^Constitution of Mass. Art. III. fAmend. to Constit. of U. S. Art. III. 



NOTES. 



381 



present Church of Rome responsible for the cruelties exer- 
cised against the Albigenses, six hundred years ago — and for 
the fires of Smithfield, the dragonnades of the Cevennois, the 
massacres of St. Bartholomew, and of 1641 ? Do we not find 
in that communion men of humanity, of elegant literature, en- 
gaging manners, sound science, and fervent piety? These 
questions would have weight, did we recognize in the acts of 
the Court of Rome any compunction for her past violences ; did 
she express her abhorrence of the principle, i that no faith is 
to be kept with heretics,' arid abjure the dogmas of Jesuitic 
morality. But until this is done, she must be held responsible 
to the world — as indeed she will be to God, when he maketh 
inquisition for blood. 

The refinement of modern manners, the withholding of ob- 
jectionable articles of faith, in soothing conversations main- 
tained with inquiries, the specious glosses put on expressions 
startling to the lover of Scriptural simplicity — all these might 
seem to say, Rome has changed, and is far different from that 
power which Luther and Zuingle, Melancthon, Calvin and 
Bucer, and the host of Reformers combatted. But the high 
tone of her present publications claims* an unchanged and 
unchangable character for her faith and her practice. 

It is not therefore to be wondered at, that this whole subject 
is awakening investigation. Indeed, the wonder is, rather, 
that curiosity has slept so long' — and that watchmen themselves 
have slumbered. Specially is it to be regretted, that that 
important part of our territory, concerning which we are ac- 
customed to hear that it will speedily, by its abundant popula- 
tion, give law to our Union, has been left open so long to the 
enterprises of Rome ; and has obtained from the elder portions 
of our population so scanty means of resistance to a persever- 
ing and specious hierarchy. How important it is in the sight 
of Romanists, this paper will soon evince. Had it been in 
our eyes as important at the commencement of this century, 
and had those means been in operation, which our tardy zeal 
is now employing, how different the result from that we have 
reason to apprehend? 

W e have before us the numbers of a French periodical pub- 
lication for the year just closed, containing several deeply in- 
teresting statements. It is entitled i Annals of the Associa- 
tion for the propagation of the Faith.' At what precise period 
the Association was formed, or what station it holds in the Ro- 

*See The J esuit, a periodical published in Boston, passim. 



382 



NOTES. 



mish Church, whether it has succeeded the 'College depropa,' 
ganda Fide,'' or is a new body altogether, we are not inform- 
ed. These numbers are from xv to xvm inclusively, and we 
propose to gather from them a few of the facts and represen- 
tations which bear on the subject of this paper. 

But, as the subject, in all probability, is comparatively new 
to very many of our readers, it will be necessary to take pre- 
viously a cursory view of what had been done antecedently to 
this period, in reference to the Romish Church in the United 
States. For this we are indebted to a publication in 1822 in 
New York, exhibiting its condition at that time.* From this 
we learn that a Jesuit priest accompanied the emigrants to 
Maryland, in 1632, and from that date till the period of the 
revolution, the American Catholics in Maryland and Virginia 
were constantly served by Jesuit missionaries, successively 
sent from England. f 

The Rev. Dr. John Carroll having been elected the first 
Bishop, by the clergy, through a special indulgence granted 
them by the Pope, Pius VI. a See was constituted, and the 
Bishop elect consecrated in England, Aug. 15, 1790. He had 
been chosen by twenty-four out of twenty-six priests, assem- 
bled for the purpose. 

At length, in 1810, the increase of the Romish Communion 
had become so great in the United States, it was judged best at 
Rome to erect the Episcopate of Baltimore 'into a Metropolitan 
or Archiepiscopal See, and to establish four new suffragan 
diocesses ; namely, Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, and Bards- 
town in Kentucky.' This was accordingly carried into effect 
4 with great pomp and solemnity.' 

Previous to this period, New Orleans had been erected into 
a bishopric, and in 1820, those of Richmond and Charleston 
were added. All these are entitled from the places where they 
are constituted, as in countries connected with the Romish 
government, or as is done in Episcopal England — there being 
no occasion, such is American liberality or indifference, for 
the ecclesiastical figment, in partibus infidelium. Singular, 
therefore, as is the sound, Boston, the capital of the puritans, 
is designated as an episcopate subject to Rome. At her court, 
doubtless, this has been regarded as no small triumph, and on 
this side the water, appears no trifling anomaly. 

*'The Laity's Directory to the Church Service,' revised and corrected by 
Rev. Mr. Power, a distinguished Romanist, 
t Id. p. 73. 



NOTES. 



383 



To the above episcopal sees, that of Ohio has been subse- 
quently added, and is denominated from Cincinnati, the prin- 
cipal town, where the Bishop's cathedral was consecrated, Dec. 
17, 1826. Mobile has likewise been created an episcopate by 
Pius VIII, the present Pope. 

It remains that something be remarked in reference to the 
resuscitation of the order of Jesuits, especially as this relates 
to their labors in the United States. 

To no body of men whatever has the See of Rome been 
more deeply indebted than to this, for active, persevering, and 
devoted service. Of their former history, their flexible prin- 
ciples, the abilities and accomplishments of their most distin- 
guished members — the extent of their missions, their estima- 
tion in courts, and influence in the cabinets of princes — little 
need be said. It is subject of general notoriety, and familiar 
to all who read. Equally known is the hatred this celebrated 
society excited even in kingdoms like France, Spain and Por- 
tugal, devoted, and the latter too almost blindly, to the inter- 
ests of the See of Rome. This odium demanded at length the 
suppression of the order, which it was the glory of Ganganelli 
(in the eyes of the Protestants at least, as well as of the peti- 
tioners) ultimately to effect in 1776. Rumor said it cost his 
life. 

From the time of Clement XIV. the society, which had been 
so powerful and so richly endowed, lay dormant for near forty 
years — at least so far as regarded its public appearance with 
its own name. It may, however, be useful to notice its pre- 
vious extent. This we are able to do from a document, 'found 
among the papers of the society at the time of their expulsion 
from Spain,' in 1767, and entitled, 'A general enumeration of 
the houses, colleges, residences, seminaries and missions of the 
Jesuits in all parts of the world.' It states* that there were in 
the society 

39 Provinces, 
24 Houses (professed), 
669 Colleges, 
61 Houses of probation, or Noviciates, 
176 Seminaries, or Boarding houses, 
335 Residences, 
273 Missions, 
22,819 Jesuits; among whom were 
11,413 Priests. 

* See 'Recueil des pieces concernant le bannissement des Jesuites,' etc. 1, 
suite, p. 46. 



384 NOTES. 

A subsequent note adds, 'We thus see that the world is as 
it were, environed by an extended net, composed, it is true, 
of wide meshes, if it were formed but of 22,000 Jesuits; but 
these meshes are compressed when we inspect a copy found 
in the Imperial College, enumerating such as were connected 
with the Congregations throughout the Spanish Monarchy. In 
the Imperial College of Madrid alone the number amounted to 
near 2000 men or youths, and a thousand females ; so that 
their "Congregations" among the subjects of his Catholic Ma- 
jesty surpass 60,000.* 

It is not in our power to trace the members of this Society 
during its suppression. The name of Jesuit was, suffice it to 
say, but synonymous with all of ambition, craft, and treachery, 
duplicity, and talent, to be conceived by the human mind. A 
history of the order was printed in France, and its delinquen- 
cies detailed in an elaborate manner. Of this work we have 
seen five, closely printed, thick quarto volumes, and it was 
then incomplete. The caustic pen of Pascal had long before 
withered its laurels, and it seemed doomed to irremediable 
death. But Pius VII. ventured to resuscitate it; and by his 
bull of Aug. 7, 1814, brought it again into existence in all the 
States acknowledging spiritual subjection to Rome. Let then 
the Court of Rome bear the responsibility of its daring ! Ne- 
cessary indeed to its service may be the devotion of such a 
band — but how perilous the determination to employ it!| 

A word or two must also be said in regard to the College 
de propaganda Fide. We confess we are not informed of its 
present state. But it is not long since its funds appeared to 
be wholly exhausted. However, Spain contributed, as the 
public papers announced, an amount of 60,000 crowns, in the 
depth of her national poverty, not long ago ; and Austria, at 
least, is able to furnish abundantly the cost of new and exten- 
ded missions : and not only able, but, it is stated on good au- 

* See 'Recueil des pieces concernant le bannissement des Jesiiites,' etc. 

page 48. 

t See a Dissertation published in Paris, 1825, entitled, Les Jesuites et leur 
doctrine, p. 287. In the introduction the author observes, 'There have ap- 
peared lately many histories of the Jesuits : but they have treated only of 
their political intrigues, and very little respecting their doctrine — of which 
many have heard a great deal, but do not comprehend it. This has caused 
the production of the present work.' — 'We presume to hope, that the public 
will be gratified to know thoroughly a Society, which formerly rendered itself 
so celebrated by its disorders, and which still, at the present day, threatens us 
with the evils it has never ceased to bring upon our kings and upon our coun- 
try;' pp. xiv. xv. 



NOTES. 



385 



thority, actually engaged in doing it for the 'Mission to the 
United States.' Private intelligence also from Italy assures 
us, that, in the upper circles, the enterprise of reducing our 
Western States to spiritual subserviency and subjection un- 
der the See of Rome, or, in other words, to convert them to 
the Faith, is the subject of most frequent and interesting 
conversation. 

In circumstances like these, we advert to the articles of in- 
formation contained in those numbers of the 'Annals' before 
alluded to, occupying about 240 pages. They are introduced 
by the following editorial remarks. 

'In the first and second number of these Annals we inserted 
two articles respecting Kentucky. We then stated the condi- 
tion of the catholic religion in this vast mission. Since that 
time, the good which had been commenced, has been confirm- 
ed, and truth has obtained new triumphs over error. Daily 
conversions, although not of a splendid character, are crown- 
ing the labors and animating the zeal of the venerable bishop 
of Bardstown, and his indefatigable helpers. The Jubilee 
was preached in succession and with effect throughout all the 
parishes of the diocese. Infidels and the protestants of all 
denominations, who inhabit this country, were neither alarmed 
nor stirred up to opposition, as has often been the case else- 
where, at the sight of a few poor priests announcing to sinners 
the mercies of the Most High, or dazzling the eyes of heretics 
with the torch of the true faith. 

'Beside the bishop and his coadjutor, Monseigneur* David, 
there are in all the diocese of Bardstown but twenty-one mis- 
sionaries. This diocese is formed of the states of Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois, the population of which 
amounts to 1,397,450 souls, comprising 207,930 slaves. This 
population, in which are found not more than 30,000 Catholics, 
is spread over a surface a hundred leagues wide, and two hun- 
dred and forty in length. The diocese possesses a Dominican 
, convent, two nunneries, and thirty churches, of which eleven 
are built of brick and nineteen of wood. The convent of the 
Dominicans is at St. Rose, near Springfield in Kentucky. It 
was founded in 1808, by M. Edw. Fenwick, the present bishop 

* The title of 'My Lord' is the qualification of bishops abroad ; but, very 
properly, we think, the editor of the 'U. S. Catholic Miscellany,' published 
at Charleston, commenting on a notice copied from a Canada paper,, objects 
to the use of it in this country. However, let it appear. It is only one exem- 
plification of Romanist aberrations from the simplicity of Scripture, which al- 
lows not bishops to be '•lords over God's heritage-r-but ensamples to the 
flocks 1 Peter v. 3. 

2 K 



386 



NOTES. 



of Cincinnati, and has thus far furnished twelve priests. Some 
years since Mgr. Flaget instituted a community of Missionary 
Friars. They are intended for the office of catechists, school- 
masters, sacristars, etc. Their vow is for three years, and 
they engage in manual labor, gardening, and agriculture. 

'The nuns devote themselves to the education of young per- 
sons of their own sex. The Sisters of Charity, seventy in 
number, were established by Mgr. David. Their chief town 
is at Nazareth, one league from Bardstown. By the increase 
of pupils, they have been necessitated to build a boarding- 
house, that will contain a hundred and fifty. Nuns, of the 
Dominican order, were established six or seven years ago, to 
the number of fifteen, in the neighborhood of Springfield. — 
They have but about thirty pupils, not being able to accommo- 
date more. The Sisters of the Cross, or of Loretto, founded 
by the venerable M. Nerinckx, amounting already to one hun- 
dred and thirty-five. Their principal establishment is at Lo- 
retto, near Bardstown, and they have six other secondary 
houses, for country schools. 

'Most of the churches of the diocese of Bardstown are very 
destitute of linen and ornaments; many, in fact, are in want 
of the objects most necessary for the celebration of sacred 
rites. The Abbe Martial, whom Mgr. Flaget had sent to Eu- 
rope in 1826, having shown the king of France the poverty of 
the mission of Kentucky, His Majesty and Monseigneur, the 
Dauphin, condescended to present him the altar furniture for 
the cathedral of Bardstown: the tabernacle, cross, and six 
chandeliers are of bronze, gilt, and of excellent workmanship. 
M. Martial had previously received of the king of Naples six 
paintings, of the Sovereign Pontiff four paintings and the sa- 
cred vessels, of the queen of Sardinia an ostensoir, inlaid with 
vermillion, and of His Highness the Duke of Modena, an epis- 
copal ring for Mgr. Flaget. And when,' adds the editor, 'the 
letters are read which are now published, it will appear that 
these testimonials of esteem, given by the abovementioned 
sovereigns to the venerable prelate and his missionaries, are 
well merited.'' 

Of the three letters from the bishop of Bardstown, which 
are then given, the first, directed to a friend who had been in 
America, is dated in February, 1825, and states : 

'The second wing of Bardstown college is nearly finished. 
It has cost more than 7,000 dollars, and the whole is, unhap- 
pily, not yet paid. Our Legislature has just incorporated the 
college. The Bishops of Bardstown are constituted perpetu 



NOTES. 



387 



ally its moderators or rectors. I might have dictated condi- 
tions, which I could not have made more advantageous or 
honorable ; and what is still more flattering is, that these priv- 
ileges were granted almost without any discussion, and with 
unanimity in both houses.' 

After some further detail of plans, and prospects, and la- 
bors, and urging his friend to 'knock at every door, and try 
to obtain the aid necessary to meet his accumulated expen- 
ses,' the bishop says : 

' There are fourteen or fifteen scholars in the little semina- 
ry, and new ones present themselves almost every week. — 
The spiritual call spreads, and offers a consoling prospect for 
time to come. Strangers who hear of our success wonder at 
it; but we who behold it, and who know the immense dispro- 
portion between our local resources and what is actually 
wanting, speak of it like men in a delirium, who follow the 
inspiration that conducts them, much more than the dim light 
of their own reason. This serves to guard us against the 
temptations of vanity, and inspires us with courage to struggle 
against the innumerable difficulties which surround our steps. 
Pray much, my dear friend,' he continues, ' and urge others 
to pray, that we may be humble and grateful ; then all will 
go well.' 

Happy, we may add, happy would it have been for the 
Church of Rome and the world, had the excellent spirit of 
this last expression breathed ever in her councils and in the 
members of her communion! 

In justice to the bishop, it must also be mentioned that, in 
the same letter, he says : 

'You will recollect that I wrote you about fourteen years 
ago, that my great ambition was to make but one family with 
my venerable priests, and that we should have a common 
purse; that each of our members, whether in health or sick- 
ness, should have a right to a decent support, and that the re- 
mainder, if any, should be consecrated to good works. The 
incorporation of our college occurred most happily to bring 
into operation this family-contract, and to recall the lovely 
times of the primitive church. I am still engaged in execu- 
ting this plan, and my young priests appear to enter into my 
views with much pleasure.' 

In a subsequent letter of acknowledgment and solicita- 
tion, the bishop thus dilates on his situation, labors, and 
prospects : 

'The providence of God has unquestionably been remarka- 



388 



NOTES. 



ble in regard to me, and even lavish of kindnesses ; and had I 
the hearts of all the angels, I could not recount them. On 
my part I have endeavored to answer its designs, and my ex- 
ertions have not been useless. In fact, what a consolation is 
it to me, that I have formed three female religious orders — 
the Lovers of Mary, the Sisters of Charity, and the Domi- 
nican Nuns ! More than two hundred young women, who have 
taken their vows in these institutions, are principally devoted 
to the education of persons of their own sex. What a conso- 
lation, to have formed two seminaries, containing thirty-five or 
forty young people designed for the church; to have erected 
two schools for country children, and a little college for such 
as desire a classical education; to see that eight brick church- 
es, without mentioning my cathedral, which is the wonder of 
the country, have been erected since my abode in Kentucky; 
that the two seminaries, the two schools, and the college, are 
also beautiful buildings of brick, erected and paid for by our- 
selves. It is true that we owe from 30 to 35,000 francs; but 
from the profits of the college and the contributions we expect, 
we may be freed in about four years. Still, had I treasures 
at my disposal, I would multiply colleges, and schools for 
girls and boys ; I would consolidate all these establishments, 
by annexing to them lands or annual rents ; I would build hos- 
pitals and public houses : in a word, I would compel all my 
Kentuckians to admire and love a religion so beneficent and 
generous, and perhaps I should finish by converting them. — 
The directors of the Association for the Faith ought not, in 
general, to scruple sending abundant alms to bishops whose 
wants plead more eloquently than their letters. By the fruits 
we judge of the tree. 

'The following,' he adds, 'is the account of the ordination 
I administered the last December : one who received the ton- 
sure, nine minorites, two sub-deacons, and one deacon ; five 
or six children of the little seminary, after a trial of eighteen 
months or two years, may receive the tonsure; but garments 
must be bought for them, for I have not the means. In our 
two seminaries, we have one tonsured, eleven minorites, four 
sub-deacons, and three deacons, with seventeen or eighteen 
young persons more, who have been studying two or three 
years for the priesthood. This prospect in a diocese, existing 
only thirteen years, is consoling to the friends of religion, 
and merits encouragement. 

The editor subjoins to this statement: 

'Mgr. Flaget has established in his diocese many convents 



NOTES. 



389 



of nuns devoted to the education of young females. These 
establishments do wonderful good. Catholics and Protestants 
are admitted indiscriminately. The latter, after having fin- 
ished their education, return to the bosom of their fami- 
lies, full of esteem and veneration for their instructresses. 
They are ever ready to refute the calumnies, which the 
jealousy of heretics loves to spread against the religious 
communities : and often, when they have no longer the op- 
position of their relations to fear, they embrace the Catholic 
religion.'' 

That such has been the frequent result cannot be denied; 
and that such a result has been anticipated, the above docu- 
ments fully evince. Nor can the 'heretics' of these United 
States be too 'jealous* of the insidious influence of the religion 
of Rome on their unguarded population. 

The following is an extract of another letter :* 

'From time to time Protestants are converted. The disin- 
terestedness of our clergy, their regularity and devotion to 
the good of the people, from whom they gain nothing, have 
more effect upon the minds of the Protestants than all the rea- 
sonings in the world. The Protestants are divided into an in- 
finity of sects; but many of them are nothing; they are not 
even baptised. They come to our church, attracted by the 
music and the preaching. They behave there as well as the 
Catholics. In fact, the church is not here, as in Europe 5 a 
place for walking and meeting acquaintances. There reigns 
in it a silence and tranquility, which are astonishing when 
observed for the first time." 

We extract also a paragraph from the details of services in 
proclaiming the 'Jubilee: '| 

'The same day on which the exercises ended at St. Thomas 
they were begun at Louisville. Two ecclesiastics from Bards- 
town came to assist the ordinary pastor of the congregation 
here. Its church, though ill situated for the greater portion 
of the inhabitants of this trading and populous city, was nev- 
ertheless filled with people. Beside the morning sermon, 
there was a conference at 4 o'clock, respecting indulgences 
and the jubilee. One of the ecclesiastics proposed the ob- 
jections of the Protestants, and another replied, referring al- 
ways to the testimony of the scriptures and tradition. Some 
days before, a Presbyterian minister of Louisville, by the 
name of Blackburn, had declaimed publicly against the Cath- 



* Annates, etc. No. xv. p, 175. 

2*2 



tld. p. 178. 



390 



NOTES. 



olic clergy. The missionaries contented themselves with 
proving their doctrine and dispelling prejudices; but the 
church being found too small for the crowd of auditors, after 
Monday the conferences were held in the courthouse at 
seven in the evening. The multitude was very great, and 
sometimes the conferences lasted two hours and a half. — 
On Saturday, instead of the conference, there was a sermon 
on the necessity of baptism. On Sunday there were but sixty 
persons at the communion; but the Catholics are only a 
small part of the population, and beside it is known that this 
city, by its situation on the banks of the Ohio, and commer- 
cial connexion with all the West, is a species of market, 
where the tumult and dissipation are extreme. Others of 
the faithful are preparing to receive the communion, and sev- 
eral Protestants have announced their design of joining the 
church. The conferences have produced a species of revolu- 
tion in ideas and feelings ; the most important points have been 
discussed, as the authority of the Pope, the real presence, the 
worship of the saints, the reproaches against the priests, eccle- 
siastical celibacy, &c. On the day when the last point was 
handled, a Presbyterian minister thought proper to interrupt 
the preacher in a loud voice. Some zealous Irishmen went 
to him ; but the preacher requested permission to answer the 
proposed questions; and, in fact, he replied with great anima- 
tion, shewing, by St. Paul himself, the advantages of conti- 
nence.' At another place : 'A conference on the infallibility 
of the church,* before a numerous body of Catholics and Pro- 
testants, closed this visit.' In other places : 'The missionaries 
proposed to answer, in a conference, some of the calumnies pub- 
lished by an Anabaptist journal. They aimed to show, that 
charity is the distinctive character of our religion, and they 
refuted the objections drawn from the Inquisition, and some 
other topics :' — 'two priests, one deacon, four sub-deacons, all 
born in the United States, and most of them in Kentucky, 
were ordained:' — 'the planters crowded earnestly to attend 
the exercises, and there were at the holy table two hundred 
and fifty believers, and about sixty received confirmation; 

*From the apparent caution with which the subject of this conference is 
expressed, it might be supposed that the letter-writer and his friends were not 
of the High Church party, ascribing infallibility to the Pope. See the Rev. 
Mr. Faber's able and seasonable work on the Difficulties, of Romanism, for 
the difference of opinion on this point, (if in an invariable church such a 
thing can be imagined,) between the Transalpine and Cisalpine parties. P. 
40, Amer. edit. 



NOTES. 



391 



one adult was baptized, and two others already baptized, enter- 
ed the bosom of the church.' At Lexington, 'almost the whole 
audience was Protestant, and the subject of conference was, 
the power of the church to forgive sins. The other exercises 
were held in St. Peter's Church, but the conferences at the 
courthouse. There, the questions respecting purgatory, the 
inquisition, and the reading of the Bible, were discussed, and 
the church was defended on these points. Such peaceable con- 
ferences excited, as at Louisville, the chagrin of some minis- 
ters, who declaimed from their desks with warmth.' 

Of these conferences, Bishop Flaget, in a letter to his friend, 
remarks: 4 It is impossible for me to tell you the good which 
will result from this exercise : The Protestants are, perhaps, 
more attached to it than the Catholics. We have had the con- 
solation of seeing a great number of old sinners making con- 
siderable efforts to obtain the indulgence of the jubilee. Ma- 
ny Protestants are much shaken. Mad. B , a widow of 

this city, [Louisville] sister of your friend, , invited me 

to see her, the day before yesterday, along with Messrs. Rey- 
nolds and Kenrick. She is convinced that she cannot find 
peace but in embracing the Catholic religion.' But, (adding 
the fashionable French exclamation, which we cannot divest 
of profaneness,) what difficulties to overcome, on the score of 
the ministers, and of her relations !' 

The remaining part of the letter is, mostly, a description of 
the urgent wants of the mission, and a pressing request to 
make every exertion for obtaining a supply. 

The next year the same Bishop acknowledges the reception 
of 13,200 francs, assigned to his use by the Association for the 
propagation of the Faith. 

' This sum,' he writes, £ has been a great help to me ; but I 
shall still need the good offices of the Association, during a 
long time. For the love of God, plead the cause of the Mis- 
sion of Kentucky with His Eminence, the Grand Almoner. — 
No mission, I venture to say, offers to religion greater hopes 
than this: but it has been compelled by circumstances, which 
the Abbe Martial can recount to you, to incur necessary ex- 
penses, and those above its present means. The honor of 
religion requires that they should be paid as soon as possible, 
and I anticipate this distinguished favor, in a great degree, 
from the generosity of the Association for the Propagation of 
the Faith. Convince His Eminence that the money sent me 
is not employed to maintain the luxury of my table, or pride of 
dress or furniture. Perhaps there is not in Paris, or in all 



392 



NOTES. 



France, one ecclesiastic in a hundred, who could satisfy him- 
self with my daily fare ; and last winter I constantly wore, 
while at the seminary, a garment presented me at S. Fleur 
sixteen years ago. In truth, I have but one simple desire, and 
I have the happiness of inculcating it on all my young priests, 
— that of extending our holy religion, and laboring for the 
glory of God. Do not, however, I beg you, alarm yourself 
with my debts and actual necessities. I am, indeed, I confess, 
in a painful condition now ; but every thing promises me a 
more tranquil issue. Our buildings are nearly finished ; we 
have almost ninety boarders in the college, and more than a 
hundred and fifty abroad. Besides, our personal expenses 
are moderate ; so that I have the greatest confidence we shall 
be able in a short time to liquidate our debts, — and shall then 
have the opportunity of educating gratis a much larger num- 
ber of pupils in our seminary for the good of the church in 
Kentucky — and even of the Bishops, my neighbors, who have 
no seminaries established.' 

Abundant proof seems to be offered in these extracts, of the 
zeal, patience, labor, and indefatigable perseverance of the 
Bishop and his helpers. We wish it may stimulate to equal 
exertions, many in whose faith, as Protestants, we have a 
greater confidence. It speaks loudly to all among us, who 
value the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, and 
cannot consent to be brought again into bondage, to use effort 
for the propagation and establishment, among our brethren in 
the West, of those wholesome institutions and religious ad- 
vantages, of which the descendants and successors of the Ley- 
den pilgrims are so justly tenacious. 

We must proceed, however, in our extracts. The bishop 
feared his account was too flattering, and that the Association 
thinking his establishments highly prosperous, would direct 
their bounty to other less promising stations. His next letter, 
therefore, presents some interesting details : 'They write me,' 
says he, £ from different quarters, that the principal directors 
of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith, are scru- 
pulous of aiding my diocess, because they believe it is suffi- 
ciently established, and because I have no stations among the 
savages. As you have been long my friend, and know per- 
fectly the sincerity and frankness of all my words and actions, 
I will enter into some details on the Western Missions of the 
United States, where I have resided as Bishop sixteen years, 
and was sent thirty-five years ago as a missionary. 

'Generally, we ought to consider all the new bishoprics of 



NOTES. 



393 



America as Sees destitute of all resources, which can never 
be solidly established, unless for half a century they are aided 
by rich and pious souls in Europe, with zealous and learned 
missionaries, with money, and with all kinds of church vessels, 
ornaments and decorations. 

4 To give you a clear idea of these bishoprics in the United 
States, I wili briefly narrate my own situation, when the court 
of Rome, on the presentation of Mgr. Carroll, had nominated 
me to the See of Bardstown. Willing or unwilling, I was obli- 
ged to accept it ; I had not a farthing at my command ; the 
Pope and the Cardinals, who had all been dispersed by the 
revolution, could make me not the smallest present; and M. 
Carroll, although he had been for sixteen years a Bishop, was 
poorer than I — for he was in debt, and I owed nothing. They 
proceeded at once to consecrate me, on the 4th of Nov. 1810; 
but for want of money to defray the journey, I could not set 
out. It was not until six months after, that, in consequence of 
a contribution made in Baltimore, I was able to reach Bards- 
town, my episcopal seat. On the 9th of June, 1811, 1 enter- 
ed this little village, accompanied by two priests, and three 
young men, students for the ecclesiastical condition. Not 
only had I no money in my purse, but had been obliged to 
borrow nearly two thousand francs for the journey. So, with- 
out cash, without a house, without possessions, and almost 
without information, I found myself in the middle of a diocess 
two or three times larger than all France, containing five large 
States, and two immense Territories, and able to converse 
but imperfectly in the language of the country itself. Add to 
this, that almost all my Catholics were emigrants, and very 
poorly accommodated. 

'After this faithful description, which will suit all the West- 
ern bishoprics except New Orleans, where should I have been, 

my dear D , if my kind friends of America and Europe 

had not generously succored me, and if I had not made the 
best use possible of their abundant alms ? Alas ! I should have 
done nothing — I should have vegetated — all would have yet 
remained to be commenced. It is very true, that with the aid 
of friends, and the grace of God, I have formed establishments 
which excite the admiration even of those who have most ef- 
fectually labored with me in erecting them. But, because I 
have known how to put to profit the precious gifts I have re- 
ceived — because I have begun in an admirable manner, must 
I be left there to behold the decay and ruin of what had offer- 
ed such flattering hopes for the future ? Would it not be better 



394 



NOTES. 



to aid me still in consolidating what I had established with 
sweat and toil, — so that, in a few years, my seminaries should 
be, as it were, a branch of the Propaganda of Rome, in which 
might be trained a sufficiency of missionaries for Kentucky 
and the diocesses adjacent? Already am I furnished with 
buildings which can contain a hundred young persons, and this 
number I could procure, had I the means of feeding and de- 
cently clothing them, and could I furnish the books necessary 
for their education. I beg you, inform the directors, that our 
Americans are not like the people of the East Indies.* Sprung 
from Europeans, they have the intelligence, the resources, the 
customs and manners necessary for the most brilliant educa- 
tion, and are capacitated to receive it. Some of my Kentuck- 
ian preists would do themselves honor at Paris and at Rome, 
by their knowledge, quickness of perception, learning and ex- 
temporaneous eloquence. They easily bend to the rules of 
the seminary; acquire a piety more solid than showy; are fond 
of learning, and capable of great application. Give me only 
sufficient funds, and a few serious and well-instructed profes- 
sors, and I can assure the gentlemen, Directors of the Associ- 
ation for the Propagation of the Faith, that I will soon form a 
sufficiency of priests for even the savages. I may indeed as- 
sert, that the savages can never be assured of having mission- 
aries constantly, until it shall be found practicable to form them 
in the country itself. Finally, it is a falsehood to say that 
there are no savages in my diocess. Many nations of these 
poor barbarians inhabit the borders of Indiana and Illinois, 
two States depending still on my jurisdiction.] But I have yet so 
great need of priests for the Catholics around me, that it has 
not been possible I should employ myself in managing a mis- 
sion altogether different from that I am now conducting. The 
almost invincible repugnance these savages show to civiliza- 
tion, the degeneracy and brutishness of their powers of mind, 
their implacable hatred and revenge, their almost constant and 
disgusting drunkenness, their insurmountable indolence, their 
roving, vagabond life, more necessary now since the vicinity 
of the whites has deprived them of game ; all this united — with 
their continual traffic among the whites, which cannot be hin- 

*See their case exhibited by the Abbe Dubois, and the reply of a Protestant 
missionary at Serampore. 

t Less is probably meant than meets the ear in these unwelcome and even 
apparently arrogant sounds. 



NOTES. 



395 



dered, as long as the republican government shall subsist* — 
must render the labors of missionaries among them, almost 
fruitless. 

'God forbid,' he adds, 'that I should decry such missions ; 
but I have been convinced for several years, that the missions 
among whites are much more valuable, in regard to both the 
progress and the honor of religion. For, since the holy Cath- 
olic religion has exhibited herself in Kentucky with a certain 
splendor, — since schools for girls and boys, into which all 
sects are admitted, have been multiplied, our many churches 
built, and our doctrine clearly and solidly explained in them on 
Sundays and festivals, the most happy revolution is effected in 
her favor. To the most inveterate prejudices have succeeded 
astonishment, admiration, and the desire of knowing our prin- 
ciples. Now the conversions are numerous. In twelve jubi- 
lees, wherein I have presided, more than forty Protestants 
have entered the church; a great number are still preparing 
to share the same happiness — and I have hardly gone over 
the half of Kentucky.' 

The next communication of the bishop covers a statistical 
account of his diocese, drawn up by M. Kenrick, a young Irish 
priest, of whom he speaks in the highest terms. 

Did our limits permit, it would be gratifying to give this doc- 
ument entire. But, in fact, the preceding extracts will enable 
our readers to form a judgment for themselves of the extent to 
which this ecclesiastical enterprise, on the part of Rome, has 
reached. Yet we must give another extract, and in addition 
remark, that four letters are published from M. Champonnier, 
* apostolic missionary' at Vincennes, with interesting details 
respecting labors in that direction — for even parts of which, 
however, we have, at this time, no room. 

The extract we propose to give consists of editorial remarks 
on intelligence, respecting the 'Mission of Ohio.' The editor, 
at the commencement of No. xvi. published in Jan. 1829, 
observes: 

'In our 9th number, we gave the Association some interest- 
ing details respecting the establishment of the bishopric of 
Cincinnati ; we exhibited the wants of this immense diocese, 
and recounted the first labors of the Prelate, to whom the Ho- 
ly See has committed the charge of this rising church. Mgr. 
Fenwick has already employed all his resources in laying the 
foundation of a cathedral; aided by the Association for f he 

*And can Rome begin already to calculate on its termination? 'Ti leo 
Danaos et dona ferentes' — we may well exclaim. 



396 



NOTES s 



Propagation of the Faith, he has seen this edifice gradually 
rise; and at length, on the 17th of December, 1826, he was 
enabled to celebrate its consecration. Eleven other churches 
or chapels have been built in different parishes. The Protest- 
ants themselves rejoice at the sight of these temples erected to 
the true God, and feel a peculiar attachment for the Catholic 
worship, whose pomp and splendor form so striking a contrast 
with the barrenness and nudity of the Protestant worship. 

4 The number of missionaries in Ohio has not increased; on I 
the contrary, some of the assistants of the venerable Bishop of 
Cincinnati have quitted him for various reasons. One of the I 
most zealous among them, M. Bellamy, who resided at Raisin 
River in Michigan, has embarked for the missions of the 
East. He has not been deterred by the poverty and wretched- 
ness which were his lot. His apostolic courage has conducted 
him to a country where there are greater privations to sup- 
port, greater conflicts to sustain, greater evils to endure. 

'We ought here to notice the difference between the Orien- 
tal missions and the missions to America. In China, and at 
Tong-King is found a polytheism, less brilliant,, indeed, than 
that of the Greeks and Romans, but equally as abject. Tem- 
ples and idols are beheld in every place ; courts, in which 
Christians are arraigned, and unjust judges who consign to 
punishment the worshippers of the true God. The Emperors, 
Ming-Meng and Tao-Kwang,* like the persecuting tyrants of 
ancient Rome, hate the religion of Jesus Christ, and proscribe 
his disciples; but they meet, among their own subjects, coura- 
geous imitators of the primitive martyrs,, who repeat before the 
mandarin the heroic confession, I am a Chkistian 1 and mount 
the scaffold, singing the hymn of thanksgiving. The missiona- 
ries who are evangelising these countries, worthy successors 
of the Apostles, have more than once with their blood fertiliz- 
ed the soil, which before they had moistened with their sweat 
and their tears. Every year they have the consolation of caus- 
ing many hundreds of infidels to abandon the worship of their 
false gods, and of regenerating, in the holy waters of baptism, 
many thousands of pagan children, in danger of death. Here- 
sy has not followed us upon this field of battle; in her favor 
the voice of the blood of martys has never been heard; she 
cannot inspire her converts with courage to die for her.f 

*Such is the English spelling authorized by Dr. Morrison. The French is 
Minh-Menh, Tao-Kouan. 

tAre the martyrs under Mary of England, and the other persecutors of 
protestants, forgotten ? But, possibly, they were not heretics. 



X0TE9. 



397 



{ Let us now consider the missions of America. In this coun- 
try we find not, as in India, a government which proscribes 
Christianity, The government of the United States has thought 
fit to adopt a complete indifference toward all the religions. 
Missionaries, therefore, have neither persecution to fear, nor 
protection to hope. Their ministry, however, is not the less 
laborious. 

'It is easy to conceive what fatigue must be endured, and 
what perils must be incurred by those apostolic men who are 
travelling without cessation the rugged mountains of Kentucky 
and Tennessee, or the forests of Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Illi- 
nois, etc. The traveller, whom necessity conducts into these 
desert portions of the United States, cannot penetrate them 
without trembling. He must scale precipices, traverse the 
streams, the muddy marshes, the tangied woods; his progress 
is disputed by ferocious beasts and loathsome reptiles; during 
the day he is terrified at the vast solitude which surrounds him 
— and fears he shall fall into the midst of some tribe of inhos- 
pitable savages; and when night arrives, he enjoys no repose 
— for if he sleeps, it is but a disturbed slumber. His excited 
imagination presents continually before him the rattlesnake, 
the tiger of the forest, or bear of the mountain, or alligator of 
the stream. Charity, evangelical zeal alone can engage the 
missionaries to suffer exile in these distant regions. Each of 
them is charged with a parish of sixty, eighty, or near a hun- 
dred leagues in extent. They traverse it unceasingly, to 
furnish the Catholics confided to their care with the aids of 
their ministry; and the year closes before they have been able 
to visit them all. Genuine pilgrims on earth, they make no 
where a long abode ; nothing stops them in their apostolic ca- 
reer, neither the penetrating cold nor the overpowering heat 
— both excessive in this climate. They advance with no oth- 
er arms than a cross, for in the cross they find the necessary 
strength to sustain such fatigue, and to despise the many dan- 
gers they meet at every step. Often does night overtake them 
in the midst of the woods. The hissing of snakes, and cries of 
ferocious beasts sound in their ears. The ruins of an Indian 
hut afford them a retreat, and they fall asleep reflecting that 
Providence is watching over them. Oh power of charity ! O 
prodigy of apostolic zeal! 

'The missions of America are of high importance to the 
church. The superabundant population of ancient Europe is 
flowing towards the United States. Each one arrives, not with 
his religion, but with his indifference. The greater part are 



398 



NOTES. 



disposed to embrace the doctrine, whatever it be, which is first 
preached to them. We must make haste; the moments are 
precious. America may one day become the centre of civili- 
zation, and, shall truth or error establish there its empire? — 
If the Protestant sects are beforehand with us, it will be difficult 
to destroy their influence. 

\Mgr. Fenwick,' adds the editor, 'is laboring with an admi- 
rable zeal to combat this influence of the Protestant sects in 
the mission entrusted to him. Numerous conversions have al- 
ready crowned his efforts ; and he has even been able to estab- 
lish a convent, all the nuns of which are Protestants, who have 
abjured their former faith.' 

But we have no space for further extracts from this deeply 
interesting, and to us, humiliating correspondence. It remains 
only to state briefly what was done in France for the last year, 
toward sustaining the Romish missions in our heretofore fond- 
ly-termed Protestant Republic ; — concerning which we should 
not speak in such terms, were it not that we know the religion 
of Rome to be precisely what the corrupt heart and the proud 
imagination of man craves — splendid, specious and superficial 
in its forms — indulgent in its permissions, especially to the 
rich — easy in its penances, which pacify the guilty, and en- 
courage to new crimes, as easily pardoned — seductive and 
magnificent in its promises, but exalting itself against the 
Truth of God, and substituting for it the vanity of useless tra- 
ditions — cruel and vindictive in its enmities, though it retain 
amiable and estimable men within its bounds — rotten as a sys- 
tem, and in regard to its factitious pomp of ceremonies, digni- 
ties and orders, though possessing many elements of truth — and 
in Scripture designated as the mother of harlots, and of the 
abominations of the earth. 

In 1828 the Association for the Propagation of the Faith 
collected a sum, which, with an amount on hand, made 271,999 
francs, 75 centimes ; of which they were able to distribute 
among the several missions 254,939 fr. 70 c. Of this last 
amount there was assigned to the Missions of America the 
sum of 120,000 francs— being about $24,000. The items 
were as follows : 

To Mgr. Fenwick, bishop of Cincinnati, in Ohio 20,000 fr. 
To Mgr. Richard, bishop of Detroit, in Michigan 7,500 
To Mgr. Flaget, bishop of Bardstown, in Kentucky 20,000 
To Mgr. Rosati, bishop of St. Louis, and Adminis- 
trator of New Orleans : for Missouri 20,000 
for Louisiana 10,000 



NOTES. 



399 



To Mgr. Portier, bishop of Mobile, in Alabama 15,000 fr. 
To Mgr. Whitefield, archbishop of Baltimore, 5,000 
To Mgr. Dubois, bishop of New York 7,500 
To Mgr. England, bishop of Charleston 5,000 
To M. Bachelot, Apostolic Prefect of the Sandwich 

Islands 10,000 
We have not the means of giving an accurate, statistical 
view of the number belonging to the Papal Church in the 
United States. We shall endeavor to do this at a future day — 
perhaps in our next number. The population belonging to 
this church has been variously stated. We are inclined to be- 
lieve it to be half a million. The archbishop of this church is 
James Whitefield, of Baltimore. Bishops, Benedict Joseph 
Flaget, of Bardstown, Ky., John England of Charleston, S. C. 
Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati, Ohio, Joseph Rosati, of St. 
Louis Mo. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, of Boston, John Dubois, 
of New York, Michael Portier, of Mobile, John B. M. David, 
of Mauricastro, and coadjutor to the Bishop of Bardstown, 
Henry Conwall, of Philadelphia. They have periodical pub- 
lications at Charleston, S. C, Hartford, and Boston. A Con- 
vention of the prelates met at Baltimore in October last, and 
addressed a pastoral letter to the laity in the United States. — 
The principal matters of exhortation are — necessity of greatly 
increasing the number of the priests — the importance of the 
education of children — influence through means of the press — 
interpreting the scriptures " according to the unanimous con- 
sent of the church" — adherence to the principles and govern- 
ment of the church — urgency of efforts to disseminate the 
true faith, &c. — We trust in God that the " Mother Church" is 
not to become in the United States what she is now in south- 
ern or even in central Europe. But this is to be prevented, 
let it be remembered, and pondered well, by far greater efforts 
on the part of Protestants, to spread the Word of Life, and the 
blessings of a Christian Ministry. The efforts of Jesuits are 
not to be despised. 

In the United States the Popish Hierarchy is composed of 
one Archbishop and eleven Bishops ; the number of Priests is 
not far from 230. They have seven ecclesiastical Seminaries, 
ten Colleges and collegiate institutions, several Academies for 
boys, twenty nunneries, to which are attached female acade- 
mies, besides numerous other primary and charity schools, un- 
der the instruction of priests and nuns, and according to 
the estimate of the late Council at Baltimore, a population 
of 500,000. 



400 



NOTES. 



INQUISITION. 

This tribunal, the most infamous by which the history of the 
world has been disgraced, was instituted in the beginning of 
the thirteenth century, for the purpose of completing the exter- 
mination of heretical pravity from among mankind. Its intro- 
duction and establishment constitute the most awful demon- 
stration that could possibly have been given of the apostacy 
of the Papal church, and a most unequivocal and dreadful 
proof of her anti-Christian character. Any* thing more abhor- 
rent to justice than the procedure of this tribunal— any thing 
more revolting to humanity than the punishments which it im- 
posed — any thing more at war with religion than the spirit 
which it displayed — any thing, in short, more entirely destruc- 
tive to the peace and the happiness of mankind, than its exis- 
tence and operation, it is impossible to conceive. It did not 
seem enough to the profligate ecclesiastics who sought to be- 
come masters of the world, that they had imposed restraints 
upon liberty of thought, and induced an almost universal mid- 
night darkness, and gained the implicit reverence of almost all 
the princes and the nations of Europe; there seemed to be 
some formidable institution still wanting in their system of 
degradation, by which their unhallowed triumph, wheresoever 
it was not fully achieved, might be completed, and which 
might seem like some mighty giant standing at the gate of the 
gloomy edifice which they had reared, and frowning destruc- 
tion on all by whom it should be assailed. This institution 
they found in the court of the Inquisition. Organized for the 
avowed purpose of punishing and exterminating heresy, it 
came, in the course of a few years, in consequence of the ex- 
tensive interpretation which that term received, to take cogni- 
zance of every thing which the Inquisitors thought proper to 
regard as a crime. It was heresy, to reject even one tenet 
which had been sanctioned by the councils or the court of 
Rome ; to read an interdicted book ; to be kind to an excom- 
municated person; to utter an unguarded expression respect- 
ing the Papal authority; or even to manifest natural affection 
to the dearest earthly friend, who had incurred the censure 
of the church. In consequence of such an extensive interpre- 
tation of the crime of heresy, the life of almost every man 
was put under the power of this most extraordinary tribunal. 
Soon after the establishment of the Inquisition, positive crime 
was not necessary in order to bring persons under the cogni- 
zance of that ruthless court: it was sufficient to be suspected 



NOTES. 



401 



of heresy, and the slightest degree of suspicion, however des- 
titute of foundation, was enough to involve those to whom it at- 
tached, in proceedings which might terminate in their tempo- 
ral ruin, and their death. Even when no ground for suspicion 
existed, accusations were basely fabricated, and the innocent 
and unsuspecting were imprisoned, that their property might 
be forfeited, and their all sacrificed to the avarice and villany 
of the church. 

The mode of proceeding which this court adopted in the 
prosecution of its victims, was not less extraordinary and un- 
just, than that by which they were brought under its power. — 
Secrecy, dishonest and tyrannical secrecy, under cover of 
which the most flagrant crimes might be perpetrated, was its 
peculiar characteristic. The apprehension of the unhappy 
victims of inquisitorial villany was not permitted to transpire. 
Generally, in the dead hour of night this deed of darkness was 
done; and with so much dexterity was it conducted by the fa- 
miliars of the holy office, that not only those who lived in the 
same neighborhood, but even those who were members of the 
same family, in many instances, knew nothing of it. One 
striking example of this is mentioned by the historian of the 
Spanish Inquisition, in case of a father, three sons, and three 
daughters, who, although they lived together in the same 
house, were all carried prisoners to the Inquisition, without 
knowing any thing of one another's being there, till seven 
years afterwards, when those who were alive were brought 
forth to an Auto-da-fe ! 

Lest any of its infernal secrets might be disclosed, no 
sounds were permitted to be heard throughout the dismal 
apartments of the Inquisition. The poor prisoner was not 
allowed to bewail his fate, or, in an audible voice, to offer up 
his prayers to Him who is the refuge of the oppressed; nay. 
even to cough was to be guilty of a crime, which was immedi- 
ately punished. A poor prisoner, we are told by Limborch, 
was on one occasion heard to cough; the jailors of the Inquisi- 
tion instantly repaired to him, and warned him to forbear, as 
the slightest noise was not tolerated in that house. The man 
replied that it was not in his power to forbear; a second time 
they admonished him to desist; and when again, the poor man, 
unable to do otherwise, had repeated the offence, they stripped 
him naked, and cruelly beat him. This increased his cough, 
for which they beat him so often, that at last he died through 
the pain and anguish of the stripes which he had received ! 

From the moment that the hapless victims of this dreadful 
2 L 2 



402 



NOTES. 



tribunal were arraigned before it, an utter violation of justice 
characterised every step of the proceedings that were institu- 
ted against them. No information was given to the wretched 
prisoner respecting the crime of which he had been accused. 
The grand object of the Inquisitors was to make him inform 
against himself; with his accusers, or the witnesses against 
him, he was never confronted; nay, he knew not even their 
names. He was told that the holy fathers never proceeded 
save on the most unquestionable information; was exhorted to 
reflect on his past life, and to tell ingenuously the sins which 
he had committed ; and was assured that ingenuous confession 
would procure for him a mitigation of the punishment which 
his crime might deserve. Rarely were their efforts unsuccess- 
ful. By operating successively on their victim's hopes and 
fears — now fawning and then frowning — one while affecting 
to pity, another while uttering dreadful menaces; at one time 
deluding him with promises of speedy deliverance, at another 
threatening racks, and dungeons, and burning flames ; or if 
these methods availed not, by a train of excruciating torments, 
in the invention of which more than human ingenuity seemed 
to have been employed, and in the application of which more 
than human cruelty seemed to have been displayed; and, by 
tedious confinement in some solitary, noisome dungeon, where 
his eye never beheld the light of heaven, and no sounds ever 
fell upon his ear, save the clanking of his fetters, and the stern 
voice of the man who daily brought him his miserable pittance 
of bread and water ; — in this way did the Inquisition generally 
bring their unhappy prisoner to accuse himself, to confess 
crimes of which he was innocent, and thus to become the in- 
strument of his own destruction. 

It was against the poor, but memorable people, known by 
the name of Waldenses, that the operations of this infernal 
tribunal were first directed. Dwelling in the deep sequestered 
valleys of the Alps, and greatly unknown and unheeded by 
the rest of the world, this interesting people preserved, for 
many ages, the purity of Christian worship and Christian 
manners : and their little region was the scene of light and 
verdure, while all around it was darkness and desolation. But 
persecution entered their peaceful retreats. It was not to be 
brooked by the haughty priest at Rome, that this simple people 
should remain strangers to the Papal yoke, and be permitted, 
without interruption, to worship God according to his word, 
apart from the Roman abominations. In the ears of surround- 
ing princes their atrocious heresy was proclaimed; and it was 



NOTES. 



403 



declared to be more meritorious and pleasing to heaven, to un- 
dertake a crusade against them, than even against the infidel 
possessors of the Holy Land. Armies were accordingly as- 
sembled at the nod of the pontiff; against a people of whom the 
world was not worthy, was the tempest of their ungodly fury 
let loose; and the lone valleys of the Waldenses, where the 
sound of War had never been heard, became the scene of out- 
rage and ruthless devastation. In this truly anti-christian work 
of extirpating heretics and heresy together, was the Inquisition 
devised and established to yield its aid — as if the ordinary op- 
erations of pontifical vengeance would have too tardily accom- 
plished the annihilation of this weak, unresisting, harmless 
people. The detail of its atrocious proceedings in their ill- 
fated land — of the havoc which it made among the humble 
disciples of Jesus Christ — of the tortures which it inflicted — 
and of the martyring flames which it lighted up, will remain 
in the historian's page an indelible memorial of its character, 
and of the monstrous wickedness of the system that gave it 
birth. Over this devoted and truly christian people, among 
whom the truth of God was preserved, when all the surround- 
ing world had forsaken it, did persecuting Rome, after ages of 
bloodshed and martyrdom, gain a melancholy triumph ; — the 
crossed banners of Popery floated over deserted villages, and 
the wrecks of conflagrated towns, and the poor remains of the 
Waldensian church, driven to strange lands, or retired in the 
mountains and lurking-places of their own beloved land, wept 
in secret over its sad desolations, and cried to him who is the 
refuge of the oppressed, that he would arise and plead his own 
cause. 

In other parts of Europe was this bloody court soon erected : 
and, that the poor heathen who had never heard of the name 
of Jesus, might have a specimen of the tender mercies of 
christian men, and might be gained over as converts to the 
christian faith, its establishment was extended to Pagan lands 
Nowhere, however, has its operation been more powerful and 
terrific than in the kingdom of Spain. Eight hundred persons 
have been condemned at once by one of its tribunals ; and, in 
the year 14S1, the Inquisition of Seville condemned to the 
flames no fewer than two thousand persons, and nearly twenty 
thousand more to various inferior degrees of punishment. — 
During hundreds of years, the Inquisition has been the terror 
of the Spanish people, and has contributed more than any oth- 
er institution to reduce to the lowest pitch of degradation their 
national character. "Its form of proceeding, is an infallible 



404 



NOTES. 



way to destroy whomsoever the inquisitors wish. The prison- 
ers are not confronted with the accuser or informer. Nor is 
there any informer or witness who is not listened to. A pub- 
lic convict, a notorious malefactor, an infamous person, a com- 
mon prostitute, a child, are, in the holy office, though no where 
else, credible accusers and witnesses. Even the son may de- 
pone against his father, and the wife against her husband. 

This procedure, unheard of till the institution of this court, 
makes the whole kingdom tremble. Suspicion reigns in every 
breast. Friendship and quietness are at an end. The broth- 
er dreads his brother, the father his son." 

This is the tribunal of the Inquisition ! — a tribunal more 
blasphemous, and dishonoring to the God of Mercy, and our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, and more awfully degrading to mankind, 
than any other institution that ever has existed upon earth. — 
Everlasting infamy will rest upon its name ; and the execra- 
tions of the wise and the good in all ages, will light upon the 
unhallowed system that gave it birth. 



Damnation and Excommunication of Elizabeth, Queen of 
England, and her adherents. 

Pius, for a perpetual memorial of the matter. 

I. He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in 
Heaven and on Earth, committed one Holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church out of which there is no salvation, to one 
alone upon earth, to Peter the Prince of the Apostles, and to 
Peters successor the Bishop of Rome, to be governed in ful- 
ness of power. Him alone he made prince over all people, 
and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant, 
and build, that he may retain the faithful, that are knit together 
with the band of charity, in the unity of the Spirit, and present 
them spotless and unblamable to their Saviour. In discharge 
of which function, we who are, by God's goodness, called to 
the government of the aforesaid church, spare no pains, labor- 
ing with all earnestness, that unity and the religion, which the 
author thereof hath for the trial of his children's faith, and for 
our amendment, suffered to be exercised with so great afflic- 
tions, might be preserved uncorrupted. 

II. But the number of the ungodly hath gotten such power, 
that there is now no place left in the whole world, which they 
have not essayed to corrupt with their most wicked doctrines. 
Amongst others, Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England, 



NOTES. 



405 



a slave of wickedness, lending thereunto her helping-hand, 
with whom, as in a sanctuary, the most pernicious of all men 
have found a refuge, this very woman having seized on the 
kingdom, and monstrously usurping the place of the Supreme 
Head of the church in all England, and the chief authority and 
jurisdiction thereof, hath again brought back the same king- 
dom into miserable destruction, which was then newly reduced 
to the faith, and to good order. For having by strong hand, 
inhibited the exercise of the true religion, which Mary the 
lawful Queen, of famous memory, had, by the help of this See, 
restored, after it had been formerly overthrown by King Hen- 
ry VIII. a revolter therefrom, and following and embracing 
the errors of heretics, she hath removed the royal council, 
consisting of the English nobility, and filled it with obscure 
men, being heretics; hath oppressed the embracers of the Ro- 
man faith, hath placed impious preachers, ministers of iniqui- 
ty, and abolished the sacrifice of the mass, prayers, fastings, 
distinction of meats, a single life, and the rites and ceremo- 
nies; hath commanded books to be read in the whole realm, 
containing manifest heresy, and impious mysteries and institu- 
tions, by herself entertained and observed, according to the 
precept of Calvin, to be likewise observed by her subjects; 
hath presumed to throw bishops, parsons of churches, and oth- 
er priests, out of their churches and benefices, and to bestow 
them and other church-livings upon heretics, and to determine 
of church causes ; hath prohibited the prelates, clergy, and 
people, to acknowledge the church of Rome, or obey the pre- 
cepts and canonical sanctions thereof; hath compelled most of 
them to condescend to her wicked laws; and to abjure the au- 
thority and obedience of the bishop of Rome, and to acknowl- 
edge her to be sole lady, in temporal and spiritual matters, 
and this by oath; hath imposed penalties and punishments on 
those who obeyed not, and exacted them of those who perse- 
vered in the unity of the faith, and their obedience aforesaid ; 
and hath cast the Roman prelates and rectors of churches into 
prison, where many of them, being spent with long languish- 
ing and sorrow, have miserably ended their lives. 

III. All which things, seeing they are manifest and notori- 
ous to all nations, and by the greatest testimony of very many 
so substantially proved, that there is no place at all left for ex- 
cuse, defence, or evasion; we, seeing that impurities and wick- 
ed actions are multiplied one upon another; and, moreover, 
that the persecution of the faithful, and affliction for religion, 
groweth every day heavier and heavier, through the indigna- 



406 NOTES. 

tion and means of the said Elizabeth : because we understand 
her mind to \>e so hardened and indurate, that she hath not 
only contemned the godly requests and admonitions of princes, 
concerning her healing, and conversion, but also hath not so 
much as permitted the Nuncios of this See to cross the seas in- 
to England, are forced of necessity to betake to the weapons 
of justice against her, and not being able to mitigate our sor- 
row, that we are constrained to take punishment upon one, to 
whose ancestors the whole state of Christendom hath been so 
muchbounden. 

IV. Being therefore supported with his authority, whose 
pleasure it was to place us, though unequal to so great a bur- 
den in this supreme throne of justice, we do, out of the fulness 
of our Apostolic power, declare the aforesaid Elizabeth, being 
a heretic, and a favorer of heretics, and her adherence in the 
matter aforesaid, to have incurred the sentence of anathema, 
and to be cut off from the unity of the body of Christ. And, 
moreover, we do declare her to be deprived of her pretended 
title to the kingdom aforesaid, and of all dominion, dignity, 
and privilege whatsoever : and also the nobility, subjects, and 
people of the said kingdom, and all others which have in any 
sort sworn unto her, to be forever absolved from any such 
oath, and all manner of duty, of dominion, allegiance, and 
obedience ; as we also do, by the authority of these presents, 
absolve them, and do deprive the same Elizabeth of her pre- 
tended title to the kingdom, and all other things aforesaid. — 
And we do command and interdict all and every one of the 
noblemen, subjects, people, and others aforesaid, that they pre- 
sume not to obey her, or her admonitions, mandates, and laws; 
and those who shall do the contrary, we do innodate with the 
like sentence of anathema. 

Given at Rome, in the year 1570. 



Excommunication pronounced by Philip Dunn, against Fran- 
cis Freeman, who embraced the Protestant faith in 1765, 
found among that Prelate's papers in his house, Wicklow. 

By the authority of God the Father Almighty, and the bles- 
sed Virgin Mary, and of Peter, and Paul, and all the Holy 
Saints, we excommunicate Francis Freeman, late of the coun- 
ty of Dublin, but now of Juckmill, in the county of Wicklow, 
that, in spite of God, and Peter, and in spite of all the Holy 
Saints, and in spite of our most Holy Father the Pope, God's 



NOTES. 



407 



vicar on earth, and in spite of Philip Dunn, our diocesan and 
worshipful Canons, who serve God daily, hath apostatized to a 
most damnable religion, full of heresy, and blasphemy; excom- 
municated let him be, and delivered over to the devil, as a per- 
petual malefactor and schismatic; accursed let him be in all 
cities, and all towns, in fields, in ways, in yards, in houses, and 
in all other places, whether lying or rising, walking or run- 
ning, leaning or standing, waking or sleeping, eating or drink- 
ing, or whatsoever thing he does besides: we separate hini 
from the threshold and all good prayers of the Church ; from 
the participation of the Holy Jesus; from all sacraments, chap- 
els and altars ; from the holy bread and holy water ; from all 
the merit of God's holy priests and religious men ; and from 
their cloisters, and all pardons, privileges, grants, and immuni- 
ties which all the Holy Popes have granted them; and we give 
him over, utterly to the fiend ; and let him quench his soul 
when dead in the pains of Hell fire, as this candle is quenched 
and put out; and let us pray to God, our Lady, Peter and Paul, 
that all the senses of his body may fail, as now the light of this 
candle is gone, except he come, on sight hereof, and openly 
confess his damnable heresy and blasphemy, and by repentance 
make amends, as much as in him lies, to God, our Lady, Peter, 
and the worshipful company of this Church; and as the staff 
of this holy cross now falls down, so may he, except he re- 
cants and repents. Philip Dunn. 



Dreadful form of excommunication denounced against the 
Pope^s alum-maker, who, having abandoned his holiness, in- 
troduced the secrets of his trade into England. 

"By the authority of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, and of the holy Canons, and of the Immaculate Virgin 
Mary, the Mother and Patroness of our Saviour; and all the 
celestial virtues, angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, pow- 
ers, cherubims, and seraphims ; and of all the holy patriarchs 
and prophets; and of all the apostles, and evangelists; and 
of all the holy innocents, who, in the sight of the Lamb, are 
found worthy to sing the new song; of the holy martyrs and 
holy confessors ; and of the holy virgins, and of all the saints, 
and together with all the holy and elect of God, we excommu- 
nicate and anathematize this thief or this malefactor N : And 
from the thresholds of the holy Church of God Almighty, we 
sequester him, that he may be tormented, disposed, and deliv- 



408 



NOTES. 



ered over with Dathan and Abiram, and with those who say 
unto the Lord God, Depart from us, for we desire not the 
knowledge of thy ways. And as fire is quenched with water, 
so let the light of him be put for evermore, unless it shall re- 
pent him, and he make satisfaction. Amen. 

May God the Father, who created man, curse him. May 
the Son, who suffered for us, curse him. May the Holy Ghost, 
who was given for us in baptism, curse him. May the Holy 
Cross, which Christ, for our salvation, triumphing ascended, 
curse him. May the holy and Eternal Virgin Mary curse him. 
May Michael, the advocate of holy souls, curse him. May 
John, the chief forerunner and baptist of Christ, curse him. 
May the holy and wonderful company of Martyrs, curse him. 
May Peter, Paul, Andrew, and all other Christ's Apostles, to- 
gether with the rest of his disciples, and four evangelists, 
curse him. May the holy choir of the holy Virgins, who, for 
the honor of Christ, have despised the things of the world, 
curse him. May all the Saints, who from the beginning of the 
world, to everlasting ages, are found to be the beloved of God, 
curse him. May the heaven and earth, and all the holy things 
therein remaining, curse him. May he be cursed wherever 
he be, whether in the house or in the field, or in the high way, 
or in the path, or in the wood, or in the water, or in the church. 
May he be cursed in living, in dying, in eating, in drinking, 
in being hungry, in being thirsty, in fasting, in sleeping, in 

slumbering, in lying, in working, in resting, and in 

blood-letting. May he be cursed in all the powers of his bo- 
dy. May he be cursed within and without, May he be cursed 
in the hair of his head. May he be cursed in his brain. May 
he be cursed in the crown of his head ; in his temples ; in his 
forehead; in his ears; in his eye-brows; in his cheeks; in his 
jaw-bones; in his nostrils; in his fore-teeth and grinders; in 
his lips; in his throat; in his shoulders; in his wrists; in his 
arms; in his hands; in his fingers; in his breast; in his heart; 
and in all the interior parts to the very stomach ; in his veins ; 

in his reins; in his groins; in his thighs; ; in his lips; in 

his knees; in his legs; in his feet; in his joints; and in his nails. 
May he be cursed in the whole structure of his members. 
From the crown of his head to the sole of the foot. May 
there be no soundness in him. May the Son of the living 
God, with ail the glory of his majesty, curse him; and may 
heaven and all the powers that move therein rise against him, 
to damn him; unless he shall repent and make full satisfaction. 
Amen, amen, — so be it." 



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